Red leaf rhododendron

Author: Zheng Yongping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: Like most other horticultural plants, the breeding and variety improvement of Photinia, native to China, were first completed by foreign horticulturists. About eight years ago, multiple Chinese research institutions and horticultural enterprises introduced Photinia varieties that had already been commercially developed abroad for observation and trial planting, followed by widespread promotion. All these introduced varieties have been collectively referred to as "Red Leaf Photinia" by convention. Currently, the introduction, trial planting, and promotion of Red Leaf Photinia have reached a considerable scale and are poised to become one of the most widely used types of landscape seedlings in China. For this purpose, we organized efforts to compile this full-color printed book. To our knowledge, this is the first book to provide such a specialized, comprehensive, and complete introduction to the production, cultivation, and application of Red Leaf Photinia varieties. Previously, no formally published (monograph) on Photinia species and cultivation had been available. In recent years, our work in horticultural plant cultivation and breeding has been rapidly aligning with the international market and achieving outstanding results in various aspects. Starting from the initial phase of introducing foreign varieties for propagation and application, it won't take long before Chinese horticulturists will be more extensively involved in the selection and breeding of new horticultural plant varieties, especially ornamental ones, with even greater achievements. The introduction of new varieties will no longer be unidirectional but will evolve into a two-way interactive cooperation involving both import and export. Moreover, Chinese researchers will soon be able to develop their own Red Leaf Photinia varieties. The Chinese people have traditionally favored the color red, and the bright red of Red Leaf Photinia is its most prominent feature, unmatched by any other plant variety at present. Therefore, we believe that red Photinia will play an increasingly important role in China's landscape greening efforts.