Success with Rhododendrons and Azaleas

The text of this book is great for the rhody enthusiast and gardener. Very readable and informative. It is probably below that necessary for rhody breeders. Mr. Reiley should hire a professional photographer or locate photographs that are at the level of his writing. Only the rare author is able to take his/her own photographs. I can't believe that Timber Press actually printed some of the photos.

This is an great book on growing rhododendrons/etc overall. It has far more and better information on how to propogate (cuttings, layering, seeds, etc) than most other books, and the lists of "good-doers" are an excellent guide to someone starting out. Many Rhododendron books are to a large degree picture books - listing hybrids with pretty pictures. This book concentrates on the culturing, diseases, planting, propogation, hardiness, soil, how acidity affects nutrients, etc. The strongest recommendation for me: My father, who's a 30+ year rhododendron and azalea collector, looked at the 12 or so books I'd picked up last year after getting bitten with the rhodie bug last year, and said this one was the one book he'd like to get a copy of for Christmas.

Reiley is without doubt an eminent and successfull Rododendron grower. His whole approach to to subject shows that he knows what he is speaking about from life experience; he doesn't repeat without comment the commonplaces to be found in so many gardening manuals and he has the ability to present data in a context which is easy to understand. However, this book is rather for a professional gardener who wants to set up his own nursery for Rhododendra and Azaleas. This does not have to be a weakness of this book; Reiley presents his chapters about growing requirements, selection of varieties, use in the landscape, propagation, nursery growing and hybridisation in a very convincing but scientific way and view. His auditory seems to be preeminently US-American. For the USA he gives good overviews about the growth conditions in many states and recommends good varieties there. Readers from other countries will feel sorry that they get much less here. Thanks to its thoroughly research and convincing conclusions every reader will understand more about these plants and will take useful new information out of this book, but for the professional grower or landscaper -especially in the US- this could become the bible for his job!