Kilarden

Rhodendron

Kilarden lies on the west of the Clachan and Church at Rosneath sheltered from the westerly winds. The house is a Victorian villa built on a one and a half acre plot in 1870 for W. C. Maugham, writer of Annals of Garelochside and Rosneath Past and Present. In the main the property faces north on a slope and is approximately half a mile from the sea. The soil is boulder clay and the underlying metamorphosed mudstone is close to the surface at the back of the house. Rainfall is in the region of 80 inches a year. As was the fashion in the 1870s, specimen trees were planted which are now mature and rather grand. These trees include Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Wellingtonia, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Cedrus deodara, Tulip Tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, Weymouth Pine Pinus strobus and Monkey Puzzle, Araucaria araucana . An old hardy hybrid Rhododendron ‘Cynthia’ may date from the same time.

Rhodendron

In 1942 Kilarden was bought by Neil and Joyce Rutherford who extended the property on all sides to 20 acres. The Broom Plantation where the basic rock is close to the surface to the south  was still substantially wooded with oak, beech and birch  and was under-planted by the Rutherfords with rhododendrons and also varieties of Crinodendron,  Enkianthus, Euchryphia, Eucalyptus, Drymis, Magnolia, Prunus, Sorbus and Stuartia. All have now attained substantial proportions while a Hammamelis mollis  pallida is  so large that parts can be pruned for Christmas decoration.

In 1998 Neil Rutherford died and in November 1999 we moved into the property.

We were soon out into the woods cutting away dead wood. One could hardly see any paths. Rhododendrons particularly  Triflora and ponticum were growing to an enormous size. Triflora rhododendrons are highly desirable covering themselves in blossom regularly every year whether dead headed or not. They have small leaves, grow very quickly, can be pruned and will break away again unlike many large leaved ones. So the next task that winter was to start pruning back Trifloras. Soon paths became visible and, after attention was paid to Rhododendron ponticum, even more paths appeared. One hesitated to attack every thing that could be described as ponticum for there are some very nice hybrids that might have been cleared by mistake and they provided shelter.

Rhododendron

Clearance is an annual winter activity and this winter’s dry spell enabled  a lot of clearance.

In the first year we listed 77 different varieties forming a very wide and comprehensive collection.  Each year we have added to the list but have not yet listed them all.

There are always some in flower. The season starts at the turn of the year with R. dauricum or R. mucronulatum and continues until October with R .auriculatum but thereafter there are still precocious flowers.We find that the early season in March and April is the most satisfactory time for looking at the rhododendrons. There are not as many varieties in flower as later although our favourite R. macabeanum always comes out in time for the open day which we hold on the second last Sunday in April as there are no midges and no leaf canopy so one can see the shapes of the trees and have good views of the loch and the hills. With the long cold winter we seem to have lost few plants and while early flowers were late the later plants seem to be flowering as normal so we are benefiting from them flowering together.