'Rio' is often described as having pink flowers with yellow centers. Actually, if you gaze into a single flower, and look at it closely, you can see that the yellow/brown blotch dots get smeared toward the edge of the blotch, and fade into the background of the flower color. So, whereas most people say the flower has yellow centers, I think that the blotch fades into the flower, creating this effect. 'Rio' is often used by breeders to get yellow flowers, but I think that this does not help for yellow flower color, since it is really a blotch color. I have never seen evidence that blotch color in parents contributes to flower color in the offspring.

However, for a plant in the landscape, 'Rio' has beautiful, long-lasting flowers, with some minimal yellow effect. The pink is not tinged with purple like so many others. Can you believe that I took this picture about three weeks after the flowers began to open?

I purchased this plant in Spring 1999, from Ericaceae, P.O. Box 293. Kelsey Hill Road, Deep River, CT 06477. I highly recommend this nursery. Mathias Zack takes the greatest care to grow and ship only the best plants. They may look a little small when you get them, but they are well worth the money. He specializes in cultivars of David Leach, and is the only source for some of them.

Parentage: 'Newburyport Beauty' x 'Newburyport Belle'

Hybridizer: David G. Leach.

Introduced:

Registered: David G. Leach, 1983.