This year, the full bloom of rhododendrons is a little later than usual – in the first week of June, not at the end of May, as in other years.
“Rhododendrons are beautiful at all stages of their flowering. The rich clusters of flower buds, both in bright colors and pastel colors, suggest that we grow candy trees, ”say the employees of Babīte Rhododendron Nursery.
The rhododendron breeding and experimental nursery “Babīte” of the University of Latvia has been established in a pine forest in Babīte parish, covering an area of 11.8 ha. It is currently the only specialized rhododendron farm in the Baltic States. The founder of the kennel is Professor Rihards Kondratovičs (1932–2017), who has been researching rhododendrons for 60 years.
During the existence of the nursery, a significant collection of open-air rhododendrons has been created from 102 wild species with varieties and 345 varieties, 682 crosses have been made in various combinations and many thousands of hybrid seedlings have been grown from the obtained seeds, from which more than a thousand promising hybrids have been isolated. 131 new varieties have been created. The varieties are registered and included in the International Register of Rhododendron Varieties of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain.
In June, you can see the glorious blooms of rhododendrons every day from 9:00 to 19:00.
