Azaleas are a favorite flower of the Chinese. Known all over China for their delicate beauty, rich color and light fragrance, azaleas have been praised in Chinese prose and poetry for thousands of years. The azalea is commonly described in the Chinese classics as a "fair maiden by the side of a stream."
If the azalea is a fair maiden, then Chen Nien-chou is one of her most ardent suitors. He has been courting her ever since he was a child. Chen's introduction to the natural world came through early contacts with his father's friends, who were all farmers and loved the countryside. A group of them would take young Chen to the hilly area around Yangming mountain located in the suburbs of Taipei. As an active and inquisitive child, he could soon recognize flowers at sight, and became familiar with their parts, such as stamen, pistil, stalk, pollen, petals and so forth.
The azalea soon became his favorite flower. A hardy plant which grows from the northern temperate zone to the tropics, the azalea comes in some 250 types of varying shapes, colors and fragrances, and 27 are known in Taiwan alone. On the China mainland, the main growing areas are Yunnan, Szechwan, Kweichow, Kiangsi, and especially the coastal areas of Fukien across the straits from Taiwan. Yunnan is known for its five-colored double flower, reflecting the Chinese preference for dark colors. In the U.S. and Europe, however, since the azalea is mainly an indoor plant, light colors are preferred, such as white or pink, while the Japanese tend toward small and delicate blooms.
Chen has become a specialist in breeding, grafting and growing azaleas. To obtain the desired appearance, he carefully selects what he considers to be the most perfect parent seeds. He then tries to ensure that the progeny is as pure as possible by inbreeding and discarding flawed plants. He repeatedly checks the flowers' color, fragrance, leaves, shape and above all "character." By grafting different plants onto a parent stem, he can influence the shape and color of future generations.
Chen often has to wait for years for the right flower to open. Then, two years of observation must pass before he gives a new plant the stamp of approval. From beginning to end, the average length of each experiment is seven years.
With an eye on mass-breeding the azalea for major markets such as the United States and Europe, Chen hopes the government will take an active role in promoting research and experiments. He has established his own flower center which already imports azaleas from the U.S. for use in experiments to produce better quality plants. A sign that his fame is spreading worldwide came when Belgian flower merchants came to Chen's shop to discuss doing business with him. Chen is proud of his accomplishments, and has given special names to his prize plants, such as "Noble," and "Beautiful Lady," to name only two. He likes to say he has two "families," his real family, on whose members some of Chen's skills have rubbed off, and his adopted family of azalea plants.
[Picture Caption]
1. Chen Nien-chou holding a specimen of Rhododendron Mariesit. 2. Azaleas in full bloom. 4. Chen's wife with an azalea bloom. 3. 5-10. Colorful blooms created by the Chens.
1. Chen's son--following in his father's footsteps. 2. Tourists like to take pictures with azaleas. 3. Chen with his "flower children".
Colorful blooms created by the Chens.
Chen's wife with an azalea bloom.
Colorful blooms created by the Chens.
Colorful blooms created by the Chens.
Colorful blooms created by the Chens.
Colorful blooms created by the Chens.
Colorful blooms created by the Chens.
Colorful blooms created by the Chens.
Chen's son--following in his father's footsteps.
Tourists like to take pictures with azaleas.
Chen with his "flower children".
