Rhododendron Shrub # 3...

 

 

Green Leafy Shrub Take 2.... 

It Was just about a year ago, Dear Readers, that I was contemplating the feasibility and wisdom of launching the Rhododendron Shrubs in Three Seasons Project! I was making rough calculations about how long it took to make the blossom clusters and the leaves, too, and trying to calculate whether there was enough Time to complete the Summer Blooming Rhododendron by blossom season at the end of May. As you are probably aware, I figured it was a "go" if I got on it right away and did almost nothing else til the Blossoming Shrub was complete. And I did succeed! Along with constructing the basic shrub skeletons for the remaining two Seasonal versions. And you might even remember that I made a mistake when attaching the shrub skeletons to their bases.... accidentally putting #2 Skeleton on base #3, and #3 Skeleton on base #2... causing a bit of an identity crisis for these remaining shrubs! And you are probably aware that I sort of completed the Green Leafy Shrub.... (the all year 'round version....) at the end of July. But I wasn't happy with the density of the leaf placement and so I "converted" it to the Winter Snowy Shrub a few weeks ago. (You tell me which it is... shrub #2 or Shrub #3!) Which leaves me needing to re-make the Green Leafy version... hopefully with a better leaf density result! I know I showed you the container full of all the leaves I had made last Fall, knowing I was going to have to just keep producing leaves if I was ever going to get the final product made! Here it is again, in case you missed it!

 It is 50 batches of leaves... each batch having forty leaves, for a total of 2000 leaves!

 This is more than I used in either of the previous versions.

Here I am starting the process of making the stem tips (the buds) using the "glue trick".

Once the glue is dry the tips need to be painted a light green.

I know my mixture is a little less "yellow" than I think it should be... 

I am running low on the yellow paint and need to remix the batch.

 

Here I am starting to glue the leaves on a batch of stems. 

The single leaf doesn't want to stay put very well unless the stem is lying flat.

 

Here I am adding the second leaf. 

Once these are very securely dried...

 (don't rush this or they fall off!)

then the next two can be added

 to each stem at the same time.

At this point they need to be vertical while they dry.

 And I forgot to take pictures to show you...!

I also decided I needed to try to "map" the shrub skeleton

 to get a good count of the branches. 

I counted the different limbs and branches and

 came up with about 100 stem tips to which I will attach

 all the leaf clusters I will be assembling!

I still need to test my construction for these... 

because rather than glue each cluster to a branch one stem at a time...

 I plan to try to add a "grouping" of two or three leaf clusters

 that have already been "combined".

This is because I realized my real problem last year 

was that I forgot that the Rhododendron

 never drops all it's leaves at once!

 It keeps most of them for two years,

 and a few for three and maybe even one or two 

are four years back along those growing stems.

 They produce the denser leaf cover I am wanting! 

I need to make the grouped stems 

with the previous year's leaves still attached!

I know I have taken pictures to show you of my RL shrub... 

but I can't find them in my photos

 and it is too dark to go get new ones.... 

so you will just have to trust me on this! 

And of course, I haven't yet tested my construction methods.... 

but that is coming next!

So, Dear Readers,

 I am tip-toeing my way into the

 Rhododendron Shrub #3, 

also known as the Green Leafy Shrub.... 

take two!