Rhododendrons, Empire, China and Me

320 pages

'With Love. From an Invader. – Rhododendrons, Empire, China and Me' is an intensive field study. Every other day for a year, Yan Wang Preston (CN/GB) went to a particular love-heart-shaped 'Rhododendron ponticum' shrub and photographed it. In the process she also found a thriving ecology with the rhododendrons as the key stone species. British rhododendrons are all introduced plants, brought from southern Europe and East Asia for science and horticulture. Although still common and a much-loved sight in most British gardens, it is often labelled as non-native invasive. The contested perceptions of rhododendrons suggest that politics is at play within the apparent objectivity of science. The book is a love letter from a non-native species to the cosmopolitan ecology of contemporary Britain.