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Connor Ryan

@connorryan.bsky.social

220 followers 890 following 27 posts

Rhododendron and azalea farmer at Holden Forests and Gardens and the David G Leach Research Station. Germplasm use, distribution, and enhancement for gardens, conservation, and research. Near Cleveland, Ohio, USA. We want to share plants!!

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 16

Hi... I'm Connor. My team breeds and conserves rhododendrons and azaleas capable of surviving our climate in Northeast Ohio.

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Apr 20

Hmmm the yellow undertones make me think a keiskei hybrid... We had Leach's 'Brittany' available a few years ago. I'll see if ours at the station is in bloom.

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Apr 16

Whoa this is crazy

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Mar 19

Would love to know why the evergreen azaleas seem to sport so much more than any of the other groups

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Reposted by Connor Ryan

Rhododendron Research @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · Mar 6

Rhododendron Research Network Rockin’ Around the Clock
May 29-30, 2025

A FREE virtual convention highlighting a global community of researchers, conservationists and members of the public working in genus Rhododendron 🪴🧪🌺

Convention schedule and registration:
medeiroslab.com/2025-virtual...

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Jan 27

Greenhouse is filling up. Come see these plants 6 inches taller as our summer intern! The last one here under internships: holdenfg.org/career-and-i...

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Jan 3

Internships at Holden this summer!

holdenfg.org/career-and-i...

Career & Internships » HF&G

Holden Forests & Gardens is not just a great place to visit, it’s a wonderful place to work. Discover the opportunities now available for potential

holdenfg.org

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Dec 20

#plantbreeding #rhododendron #holdenscience

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Dec 20

Holden's(R) Red, Pink Flare, Raspberry Ruffles, Peach, Fuchsia, and Pink are the first introductions from our program to attain both the goals of Dr. Leach and Dr. Krebs: zone 5 hardiness, resistance to root rot disease, and exceptional ornamental appeal.

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Dec 20

Many people found the Leach hybrids hard to grow, despite being supremely cold hardy and ornamental. When Dr. Stephen Krebs took over the program in the late 90s, he emphasized adaptive traits beyond cold hardiness, most notably resistance to root rot disease caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi.

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Dec 20

Over the last couple years our program introduced 6 rhododendron hybrids to the nursery trade. Under Dr. David Leach's direction, the program introduced a multitude of fancy rhododendrons hardy to zone 5.

You may know Capistrano, Hong Kong, Janet Blair, Crete, Anna H. Hall, Rangoon, Party Pink, etc

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Dec 3

For those interested in working at a US botanical garden, this is a great resource that I checked compulsively while job hunting: www.publicgardens.org/jobs/

All kinds of jobs, and a slew of internships are showing up now.

#publicgarden #botanicalgarden #horticulture #plantbiology #botany #jobs

Jobs

PUBLIC GARDENS CAREER CENTER Our Career Development Center is the most comprehensive resource of its kind for the public horticulture industry—providing position openings in botanic gardens, arboreta,...

www.publicgardens.org

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Dec 1

This is good. I like the maps from the Twitter account.

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Dec 1

Now that my house is covered in 2.5+ feet of snow, I NEED the most useful Twitter account over here

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 19

Someone get the National Weather Service over here. It's the only thing keeping me on Twitter.

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 28

Maybe I'll figure out how to do it...

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 27

Cutting propagations tend to be out of sync with typical phenology. Here's Rhododendron ripense, a Japanese species we're interested in for neutral-high pH tolerance.

Reposted by Connor Ryan

Nordic Journal of Botany @nordicjbotany.bsky.social · Nov 22

EV: Two new species of Vireya Rhododendron (Ericaceae), from Tambrauw, Papua, Indonesia by Mambrasar et al. The image shows R. mulyaniae, provisionally assessed as Critically Endangered due to fire, agriculture and human activities.
https://vist.ly/3mm2eez
@nordicoikos.bsky.social

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 22

RIP Mr. Goodyear the rubber tree

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 22

Wonderful to see given my dogs destroy all my houseplants

FLOWer Lab 🌸🍒 🐝 🪰🔬🧬 @flowerlab.bsky.social · Nov 21

The video provided in Supplementary Information from the very interesting paper by Lai and co-authors in Ecology, showing potential pollination by Ethiopian wolves of Kniphofia foliosa! 🐺

Read it here: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

@pollinet.bsky.social

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 20

Got to have a lot of projects going or else the anticipation will literally kill you over those years.

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 20

Our two light carts currently represent over a year's worth of hand pollinations and wild seed collections. Rhododendrons and azaleas (and all Ericaceae? - there's Agarista and Kalmia there too) are frustratingly tiny for months. Flowers in 2-5 years. #seeds #propagation #horticulture #botanicgarden

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 19

Someone get the National Weather Service over here. It's the only thing keeping me on Twitter.

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 19

Bog lover for sure. Sarracenia bogs in Mississippi were my start in plant science.

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 19

Is there a general horticulture starter pack? Or a woody plants one? #horticulture #starterpack And also a propagation one!

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Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 16

#plantbreeding #conservation #collections #rhododendron #azalea

Connor Ryan @connorryan.bsky.social · Nov 16

We're interested in facilitating collections-based scholarship, field-based conservation or research, wild or heirloom germplasm acquisition, or anything else related to rhododendrons and azaleas. If you think we can help, don't hesitate to reach out.