Winter Rhodo

Winter in the mountains is the time of flowers on bushes in gardens. You don’t expect to see flowers on trees. Walking through Lloyd botanical garden, I was surprised by a small tree with purple flowers. I took several photos before I realized I was looking at a Rhododendron. It is not a genus which flowers so early in winter. Most species of rhodo flower in spring. So what was I looking at?

From the shape of flower and the leaves it may be the Bell rhododendron, Rhododendron campanulata. But since there are over a thousand known species of rhodo, I could be wrong. It turns out that I should have turned over the leaf and looked at its underside for better identification. You live and learn. Bell rhodo is normally a spring flowering species, so I’m puzzled by why it was flowering so early. Of course it was not really cold in early winter, but that must happen in many years. It could well be an exotic species. Isn’t that what you expect in a botanical garden? In the absence of a sign identifying it, this remains yet another abominable mystery.