Millais Nurseries
All Plants
Rhododendron Ilam Violet
Wonderful deep violet blue flowers in compact clusters flowering in April-May. These flowers really glow on the plant! The lovely reddish young aromatic leaves turn lettuce green in summer, then bronze in winter. The plant is best in light shade. Height 80-100cm in 10 years.
Recommended for small gardens and mixed borders with great foliage
Easy to grow
Ideal position: most garden situations but...
Rhododendron insigne AGM
A great plant with stunning pink bell shaped flowers with crimson spotting in May - June. It has distinctive pointed deep green glossy leaves with a silver/coppery metallic sheen on the underside. This is a tough plant with a neat bushy habit, particularly if grown in plenty of light. It does benefit from deadheading after flowering. Height 80 to 100cm in 10 years.
Recommended for good foliage and...
Rhododendron James Burchett AGM
Wonderful large scented white flowers with a slight mauve tinge and prominent green-yellow speckled flare in dense trusses in late June to early July. This plant takes us little longer to propagate but it is certainly one of the best later flowering hybrids. It has lovely long dark foliage on a tough, vigorous plant with a dense habit. Height 150-180cm in 10 years. Best in partial shade to protect...
Rhododendron Jeanne Church
(H5) Pink in bud, opening to large rounded trusses of cream flowers with pink flush, and 3 red flares at the base. Early May flowering. An unusual NZ hybrid between R. macabeanum and Unique, displaying the compact habit of Unique and the big leaves of macabeanum. Height 125-150cm in 10 years.
As with all yellow Rhododendrons, this plant does need good drainage (but not dry conditions!). It also needs...
Rhododendron Johnnie Johnston
(H4) Attractive semi-double soft rose pink flowers, stained with a darker shade in the centre. April flowering. Bred in Cornwall, suitable for mild climates and cool conservatories. Height 50-75cm in 10 years. Requires moist acid composts.
Bred by Sir Edward Bolitho at Trengwainton, which is now a choice National Trust garden in Cornwall.
• Easy to grow, but give winter shelter.• Ideal...
Rhododendron Kabarett
PLEASE NOTE THESE PLANTS ARE REDUCED DUE TO BEING EITHER A LITTLE ON THE SMALL SIDE OR HAVING FEW TO NO FLOWER BUDS.
Very attractive plant that has pretty frilled edge, wide open lilac flowers that are paler in the centre with a prominent wine-red blotch. It flowers in late May to early June. From Hachmann's Nursery in Northern Germany, it is very hardy to -24C. A great tough compact plant that will...
Rhododendron Kalinka STANDARD
(H7) Red in bud, opening to ruby pink flowers with ruffled darker edges. Fades pale rose pink with greenish yellow spots in May. Compact habit with dark shiny leaves. Currently the size of the well-branched head is about 30cm, and it will grow to around 75cm in 10 years.
These Standards have a clean stem of about 80cm and have been top-work grafted at that height, with a lollipop-like head of...
Rhododendron Karl Naue
(H6) Strong red flowers in a domed truss, with dark red spotting on dorsal lobe, and prominent white filaments. Mid May-June flowering, set off with good dark green foliage. A tough plant from Hachmann, in Northern Germany. Height 150-175cm in 10 years. Requires moist acid soils.
Introduced: Holger Hachmann 2007Etymology: named for the 71st birthday of the head of the Dittersdorf Baumschulen, Amtsberg...
Rhododendron Kluis Sensation AGM
(H5) Strong red with crimson spotting, in wide funnel shaped slightly frilled flowers, on a compact globular truss in May. A compact plant and fairly slow growing, with concave leaves. Tolerates sun and heat, and has been a recommended variety to survive the heat in Australia! Height 150-175cm in 10 years.
• Recommended for: Hedging/screening, tough variety.• Easy to grow.• Ideal position:...
Rhododendron Kokardia
Striking frilled lavender pink flowers with a prominent wine red blotch. Flowering in May this lovely plant has glossy green leaves. It is a dense plant that grows wider than tall. Height 140-160cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: Striking flower.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit: Dense.
Group: Hybrid Rhododendron.
Parentage: 'Humboldt' (s) X 'Direktor E. Hjelm'.
Hybridization...
Rhododendron Le Progres
12 litre plants have marked/discoloured leaves, this does not effect the plant in any way apart from being cosmetic.
Very attractive frilly pale rose pink flowers with a prominent crimson speckled blotch that flowers in late May. A tough dense plant with good glossy foliage. Height 140-160cm in 10 years.Also known as Rhododendron Progres.
Recommended for: Striking flower and great habit.
Easy...
Rhododendron Libretto
This plant has wonderful large dark purple flowers with an attractive yellow-green flare. Flowering in late May/early June with a broad compact habit. A tough plant from Hachmann's in Northern Germany. Height 150-175cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: A tough plant with gorgeous flowers.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit: Compact.
Group: Hybrid Rhododendron.
Parentage:...
Rhododendron Loderi King George AGM
One of our favourite Rhododendrons, considered to be one of the best scented hybrids ever. Pink buds open to large trusses of pure white sweetly scented lily-like flowers with faint green markings. Flowering in early May this is a tall growing woodland plant that requires shelter and protection from strong winds. Height 180cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: Strongly scented flowers.
Plantsman range.
Ideal...
Rhododendron Loderi Pink Coral
Pale coral pink highly scented flowers with a brownish purple blotch flowering in early May. A tall growing woodland plant that requires shelter and protection from strong wind. Height 180cm in 10 years.
This is one of the deepest pink clones of Loderi, but like all of them, the flowers will fade to pale pinky-white after a few days, but the lovely scent remains.
Recommended for: Strongly scented...
Rhododendron Loderi Pink Diamond AGM
Large sweetly scented trusses of rose pink flowers which fade paler, almost to white, and have faint brown markings. Flowering in early May this is a fast growing upright plant needing a sheltered woodland position. Height 180cm in 10 years.
Like all Loderi clones, the flowers will fade to white after a few days, but the lovely scent remains.
Recommended for: Strongly scented flowers.
Plantsman...
Rhododendron Lord Roberts AGM
A popular plant with deep red flowers and a black flare forming a ball-shaped truss in early June. One of the toughest and strongest red varieties suitable for most locations. It forms a dense bush with thick leathery foliage. Height 150-180cm in 10 years.It certainly ranks as one of our favourites and is ideal for hedging and screening.
Recommended for: Hedging/screening.
Easy to grow.
Ideal...
Rhododendron Madame Masson AGM
White star-like flowers with a golden yellow blotch flowering in late May early June. This is a very old hybrid that is extremely tough, reliable and striking. A dense well shaped plant with shiny dark foliage which is ideal for hedging and screening. Height 150-180cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: Hedging/screening.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit: Dense.
Group:...
Rhododendron makinoi AGM (best narrow leaf)
A stunning plant with compact trusses of pinky white flowers in May and June. This selection has interesting long recurved leaves and dense fawn indumentum on the underside and lovely wooly young shoots. It benefits from staking and is certainly worth growing for it's wonderful foliage. As the name suggests, we think this is our best makinoi selection! Height 80-100cm in 10 years.
Recommended for...
Rhododendron Markeeta's Prize AGM
Fine large bright scarlet flowers with darker spots. Flowering in early May it has thick dark green foliage on a tall upright plant. Markeetas Prize is one of the best reds available but we do recommend partial shade to prevent the blooms from fading. Height 175-200cm in 10 years.This is a great tough plant that is ideal for hedging and screening.
Recommended for: One of the best reds.
Easy to...
Rhododendron Marlis AGM
Fantastic red buds open to rose pink flowers with paler centres and star-shaped white lines. This plant flowers in May, buds up young and is neat growing. This is a consistently reliable plant and one that we would recommend. Height 80-120cm in 10 years. The registered name is 'Hachmann's Marlis'.
Ideal for containers and small gardens.
Easy to grow.
Group: yakushimanum.
Parentage: Mars X yakushimanum...
Rhododendron Maroon Sappho
(H6) Lilac in bud opening to white flowers with a lilac flush, and a prominent maroon red flare on the upper lobe. Late May flowering. A strong growing plant with a neat habit. Height 150-175cm in 10 years.
This is a neat and much more manageable plant for most gardens than the well known R. Sappho, which is too large and sprawly for many gardens. Although the Maroon Sappho flower is a little smaller,...
Rhododendron Maxine Childers
Beautiful waxy cardinal red flowers on a really special plant. It has textured dark green leaves with orange brown indumentum below. It resembles a compact R. strigillosum and has the same interesting bristly leaf. It flowers in April and young growth is reddish brown. We would recommend some shelter. Height 100-120cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: Strong red flower and wonderful foliage.
Plantsman...
Rhododendron Metallica
(H7) Stunning deep violet flowers with a prominent blotch and speckling on the upper lobes, flowering in late May and early June. This is a very hardy plant from Northern Germany, and was bred by Holger Hachmann in 2009. As yet not registered, but also known as Hachmann's Metallica. Height 150-175cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: Striking flower..
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit:...
Rhododendron Midnight Beauty
(H6) Almost black buds open to dark burgundy red flowers with a darker blotch and wavy edges. Cream coloured anthers add extra interest. Height 150-175cm in 10 years.
• Recommended for: Tough variety and stunning colour.• Easy to grow.• Ideal position: Dappled shade in most garden situations.• Habit: Can be thin so plant with other Rhododendrons.• Group: Hardy Hybrid.•...
Rhododendron montroseanum
Beautiful pink flowers with a crimson blotch flowering in March. This is a wonderful foliage plant for milder gardens with dark green shiny leaves up to 45cm long with whitish indumentum on the underside. Young growth is particularly attractive. Height 150cm in 10 years. Please note this is one of the more tender of the large leaved species and really does need good shelter from wind and cold.Named...
Rhododendron Moonstone
(H5) Characterful lax trusses of yellow bell shaped flowers opening to creamy pink in April. Rounded mid green leaves. Raised by J C Williams, campylocarpum x williamsianum. Height 100-125cm in 10 years.
• Ideal for containers and small gardens.• Easy to grow.• Parentage: campylocarpum x williamsianum.• Hybridization date: pre 2000 (1958).• Bred by: J.C. Williams Origin: British.•...
Rhododendron Moser's Maroon
(H5) Dark-red flowers with black spots, in compact rounded trusses. Leaves have striking coppery-red growth, which remains red-tinged all summer. Height 125-150cm in 10 years. Requires moist acid soil.
• Recommended for: Interesting copper-brown young foliage.• Ideal position: Dappled shade in most garden situations.• Habit: Bushy.• Group: Hardy Hybrid.• Parentage: (maximum...
Rhododendron Mount Everest
Superb pure white flowers with red-brown speckling in the throat. This is a showy plant that is very free flowering in May and faintly scented. Mid-green leaves on a dense, bushy vigorous plant. Height 150-180cm in 10 years.This is a great plant that is ideal for hedging and screening.
Recommended for: Wonderful pure white flowers.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit:...
Rhododendron Mrs A .T. de la Mare AGM
This is a super plant with blush pink buds that open to fragrant white frilled flowers with green spotting. Flowering in May with good glossy foliage Mrs A T de la Mare is an excellent hardy plant with an upright spreading habit. Height 150-180cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: Pure white scented flower on a tough plant.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit: Can become tree-like.
Group:...
Rhododendron Mrs Charles Pearson AGM
This pretty and useful plant has mauve-pink buds that fade to near white in flower with brown spots. It has good dark foliage and flowers in late May to early June. It is vigorous and has an upright and dense habit. Height 180cm in 10 years.It certainly is one of our favourites and is ideal for hedging and screening. Vigorous and tolerating sun and heat, this is a great plant. Height 150-180cm in 10...
Rhododendron Mrs T.H. Lowinsky AGM
Mauve buds open to orchid pink and fade to white with a conspicuous and distinctive orange blotch in June. Mrs T H Lowinsky is a very hardy and fast growing plant. Height 180-200cm in 10 years.She is ideal for hedging and screening. Vigorous and tolerant of heat.Also known as Mrs Tom H. Lowinsky.
Recommended for: Hedging/screening.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit:...
Rhododendron Mrs T.H. Lowinsky AGM (Second's)
Please note these are great plants but have been reduced as they are not first grade. If you are interested in any of these and wish to see photos please email or call and we can get some over to you.
Mauve buds open to orchid pink and fade to white with a conspicuous and distinctive orange blotch in June. Mrs T H Lowinsky is a very hardy and fast growing plant. Height 180-200cm in 10 years.She is...
Rhododendron Nimrod
(H5) Pale pink bell shaped flowers, heavily speckled and blotched purplish red, in a large well filled truss. Flowering in April. A choice plant of good stature, ideal for light woodland. Height 150-175cm in 10 years.
Rhododendron Nofretete
(H6) Bright red flowers, white in the throat, with red-brown spotting on the dorsal lobe, fading paler with age in May. A great foliage plant, neat habit. Bred Bruns (Germany) 1961. Height 100-125cm in 10 years. Please note this variety can be shy to flower, so you may need to wait 2-3 years.
• Ideal for containers and small gardens.• Easy to grow.• Parentage: ‘El Alamein’...
Rhododendron Old Port
PLEASE NOTE THESE PLANTS ARE REDUCED DUE TO BEING EITHER A LITTLE ON THE SMALL SIDE OR HAVING FEW TO NO FLOWER BUDS.
Extremely attractive medium reddish purple flowers with a deep blotch flowering in late May. This is a vigorous old hybrid with good glossy leaves. Height 150-180 cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: Striking flower and great foliage.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit:...
Rhododendron Orakel
(H7) Striking dark purple variety with a distinctive blackberry blotch. A tough variety from Hachmann's Nursery in Northern Germany, flowering in late May-early June, with good winter hardiness. Height 150-175cm in 10 years.
Shortlisted for RHS Chelsea Flower Show Plant of the Year, 2016. One of 3 plants entered by Millais Nurseries that reached the top 20 selections of the Show!
• Recommended...
Rhododendron oreotrephes 'Pentland' AGM
Wonderful clone with deep mauve flowers with a paler centre in April-May. A very desirable species with beautiful sea-green foliage which is highly recommended. This selection was obtained from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh by Peter Cox and introduced in 1990. R. oreotrephes Pentland has a tidy upright habit. Height 75-100cm in 10 years.
Recommended for wonderful foliage.
Easy to grow.
Ideal...
Rhododendron pachysanthum 'Crosswater' AGM
A superb foliage plant with silvery blue covering (tomentum) on the upper leaf surface, and tan wooly indumentum underneath the leaves that is silvery white on the young growth. Distinctive leaves and free flowering pinky white flowers spotted red or green in April and early May form a neat rounded truss. Originally collected from Taiwan, our pachysanthum Crosswater clone is recognised as one of the...
Rhododendron Paola
(H6) Wonderful soft pink flowers with darker reddy-brown centres, opening in late May/early June with dark green matt foliage. This variety forms a dense compact plant growing wider than high. 125-150cm in ten years. Once again, its compact habit makes this plant ideal for middle of large boarders or perfect for the smaller modern garden.
• Recommended for: Smaller modern Gardens.• Easy...
Rhododendron Picobello
(H7) Each flower truss is made up of 11 pure white flowers with a deep red blotch on the upper lobe. Wavy dark green foliage with a broad compact rounded habit. A very hardy plant, flowering in late May - early June. Height 125-150cm in 10 years.
• Recommended for: Middle of the boarder height• Easy to grow.• Ideal position: Most garden situations.• Habit: Dense mound.• Group:...
Rhododendron Polar Bear
Icy white and strongly fragrant trumpet-shaped flowers with a light green throat. Flowering in July it has large veined foliage on a fast growing sturdy shrub. It does need some shelter and a warm position. Height 180 cm or more, in 10 years. Rarely available elsewhere, and highly sought-after. Flowering may take up to 10 years
Recommended for: Later flowering and scent.
Plantsman range.
Ideal...
Rhododendron Princess Alice FCC
(H4) Lovely scented white flowers, flushed pink on the outside. April-May flowering, on a plant with low growing habit. A tender variety best grown in a sheltered garden or cool conservatory. Height 75-100cm in 10 years. Best in moist well drained compost.
Recommended for the cool conservatory and its lovely scented flowers.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: sheltered position in the garden or in...
Rhododendron Pubicostatum
(TALIENSIA H7) Trusses of light pink flowers. April-May. Excellent foliage with sparse brown indumentum on underside. Probably natural hybrid between R. bureavii and R. sikangense. Height 40-60 cm in 10 years.
Rhododendron Queen Bee
**** As launched by us at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019****
(H5) Rosy-pink in bud, opening to pinky white bell shaped flowers in April. A wonderful foliage plant with lovely fawn indumentum especially on new growth in June-July, turning brown underneath and silvery on top. Height 50-75cm in 10 years. A beautiful rhododendron with a very promising future. This combines the lovely fawn indumentum from...
Rhododendron Queen Elizabeth II
Lovely glowing trusses of clear primrose yellow funnel shaped flowers 30 x 115mm in early-mid May. This is a vigorous strong growing plant of fairly upright open habit. Height 140-160cm in 10 years.As with all yellow Rhododendrons, this plant does need good drainage (but not dry conditions!). It also needs some shelter.
Recommended as a nice vigorous plant with pretty flowers.
Easy to grow.
Ideal...
Rhododendron Red Jack
Attractive ruby red flowers in a tall conical truss during mid May. This is a good solid red that catches the eye. Bred at Boskoop Research Station, Holland, we think it is a lovely plant. Height 150-180cm in 10 years.
Recommended for: Good strong red.
Easy to grow.
Ideal position: Most garden situations.
Habit: Dense.
Group: Hybrid Rhododendron.
Parentage: 'Wilgen's Ruby'...
Rhododendron rex AGM
Wonderful pale rose or white flowers with a crimson blotch in April-May on a plant that will eventually make a small tree. One of our favourites, it has 30-40cm shiny dark green leaves with a pale buff woolly indumentum beneath. Height 150-180cm in 10 years. Awarded the AGM in 2013, this is one of the toughest and most reliable of all big leaved species.
Big leaved rhododendrons have great architectural...
Rhododendron Rexima
(H5) An interesting foliage plant, combining the winning traits of R. yakushimanum and R. rex. Lilac pink in bud, opening white with a dark red basal blotch and markings in May. Large dark green leaves with brown indumentum on the undersides, and a fluffly light tomentum on the new leaves, which have been inherited from the big leaved R. rex, but growing in a useful compact habit due its yakushimanum...
