The dreaded 'Rhodies' are now out, feeling about as unwelcome as the white Zimbabweans who share the nickname. The flowers provide another excuse for those who know a little to feel patronising about those who know even less. It's even common to hear people who only rarely step onto semi-natural sites to condemn the Rhododendrum ponticum snobbishly as something only ignorant people of the lower orders could possibly enjoy looking at. Its 'blowsy' flowers are only fit for, well, the assorted terrain in parts of Asia. And various mythological horrors have been associated with it to discourage planting and cultivating. We've been told that it is poisonous to insects, or its pollen is poisonous. There is some evidence that honey made by bees from its flowers can be toxic in various degrees to humans. And there are many people who consider that it should have no place in this country - as an alien invader. Certainly not much grows under it and it's pretty persistent when it gets established. But the idea that it damages biodiversity because insects keep away from it may be exaggerated.
The gorgeous hybrid dwarf Rhododendron in my garden is actually the single favourite of all the visiting bumble bees (and the competion from nearby shrubs is rather fierce).
Another plant now at its best is one of my favourites, the Cow Parsley.
Given only a slightly more prepossessing name it would surely have figured in many classic lyric poems in English verse anthologies. Its habit of white-lining the edges of paths and tracks shows an endearing regard for the needs of walkers in gloomy conditions.
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