The owners of a small hotel in the British county of Sussex not only do not suffer, like many of their colleagues, from the absence of guests due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but, on the contrary, are forced to refuse many guests due to lack of free places.
Tourists from all over the country come to them to admire the largest rhododendron in England.
The plant, which has grown to the heights of a multi-storey building, was planted 130 years ago by scientist and biologist Frederic Du Can Godman . He brought a seedling from the Himalayas.
“There is no need or even sense to care for this plant,” says gardener Poe Collins . – Human efforts are in vain here. For example, you may not need to water it at all, because even the most powerful garden pump will not pump enough water to reach the roots. If you take a cut, the bush will grow even faster.
The hotel managers set aside a separate lawn especially for this green monster, since the rhododendron mercilessly destroyed other plants. Now he grows at ease and does not bother anyone.
This rhododendron is not the only giant that has grown in England, its slightly smaller brother has grown in Hillsborough Castle – the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II in Northern Ireland.
