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Rhododendron ‘Grace Seabrook’               ('Jean Marie de Montague' × R. strigillosum)

• Broadleaf evergreen shrub, 4 ft in 10 years.  Leaves are large, pointed, very thick and dark green with sparse indumentum.  Flowers are funnel-shaped, about 8 across, currant red at margins shading at center to blood red, in tight, ball-shaped clusters (trusses) of about 12 flowers.
• - 5^o F, early-mid, 4-5/4/4 [flower / plant & foliage / performance; scale 1 (poor) - 5 (best)].   Best if protected from afternoon sun.
• Released in 1965, hybridizer Seabrook.
• ‘Grace Seabrook’ is very similar to ‘Taurus’, both are from crosses of 'Jean Marie' × R. strigillosum.  Greer (1996, p. 137) states that the flowers of these two cultivars "are so much alike, you can't tell them apart".  He points out that the difference between these plants is most noticeable in the green leaf and growth buds of ‘Grace Seabrook’, whereas the buds of ‘Taurus’ are usually red.  Others say that the big difference between the two cultivars is the mature height of the plants, with ‘Taurus’ reaching 6 ft (1.8 m) tall, whereas ‘Grace Seabrook’ grows to 4 ft (1.2 m) tall.