I decided to take photos.

Golden Lights
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Another
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Rhododendron 'Spring Dawn'
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Another
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Then Catawbiense 'Alba' (No dieback this year but over the past 4 years or so I've lost the entire right side of this plant) Two Photos:
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And showing just how funny this plant looks from face on:
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Thanks for your time!
Oh yah, this might not at all be relavent but my mom was over today doing some garden work and she told me there were a lot of ants around these plants.
Thanks again..
Dax

Dax, perfect soil - I'm envious. Mine is improving over the years, but surely I'm at least 10 more away from perfect. My acidic clay amended with compost does make my rhodies happier than it does me...

The individual stem die back is most likely caused by droughty conditions. Sometimes rhododendrons will respond to insufficient water by parts, sides, individual stems of the plant dying, almost like it's trying to conserve what moisture it does have. Same with the leaf drop on your azaleas; if there are buds present on those leafless stems, you probably have nothing to worry about. Another symptom of water stress though is reduced flowering if the plants become overly dry during the summer period when they would be setting buds....are you able to provide more water or is it not available to your garden?

Borers could also cause individual branch dieback, but you would see visible evidence of those. You might want to consider addressing the rootweevils; large numbers can cause severe injury or even plant death, they aren't just cosmetically distracting. I had some luck with beneficial nematodes applied during our moist Spring, but I will also use orthene after flowering for adults in a year where I'm finding more than I'm comfortable with. Those chewed places could potentially offer a foothold for disease.

Here is a link that might be useful: weevils

So, I posted before seeing your photos....but I'm still saying drought. Your Golden Lights almost looks like it may have had some powdery mildew, but that isn't clear to me... ?

I'm not seeing severe weevil damage. But, deadhead rhododendrons after flowering please, no ladder excuse with that one. There's no reason to let it expend energy setting seed if you don't plan to collect it to sow...better to direct those resources to setting new flower buds for the next Spring.

Thanks a lot Mor. I'm laughing about your deadhead comment. You probably won't believe me but I always deadhead, however..this year I've decided to allow the pods to mature so I can collect seed. Nice thought about the latter though, I'm lovin' that.

I think you're right on with the diagnosis. Your comments about water retention make a lot of sense to me. I actually do have near access to a hose, I've just begun to get lazy for some reason. I can't comment about that however. It's plain to me that I need to start taking better care of my plants again.

I've also been lazy about the insect problems that you diagnosed. Next spring I'll start taking care of these issues as well, and my own watering issues as I know I should have been doing all along.

Thanks a lot for your help, your tips, and I can tell you that I appreciate it very much.

Many thanks,

Dax

The (wild) deciduous azalea that I have had for 25 years has developed grape sized green lumpy nodules at the tips of some branches. When I broke one open it was fleshy and looked like it had seeds developing inside, but since it is just now coming into bloom I don't believe it could be producing seed. Can anyone shed light on this? Should I pick them off and discard? I would hate to loose this beautiful plant.

These are actually deformed leaves called galls.

Azalea leaf gall. Exobasidium leaf gall (caused by the fungus Exobasidum vaccinii) is very common and widespread in the early spring on new leaves as plants leaf out. The leaves become thickened, curled, fleshy and pale green to white. In the latter stages of the disease, the leaves are covered with a white powdery substance. If left on the shrub the affected leaves eventually turn brown. The disease is morealarming than damaging. Even highly susceptible cultivars are not seriously damaged. If you only have a few plants, control the disease by hand picking and destroying diseased leaves as soon as the swelling starts (April or early May in North Carolina). Leaf gall seldom causes enough damage to justify spraying a fungicide. This fungus also attacks rhododendrons and a related fungus causes leaf gall of Camellia sasanqua, the fall blooming camellia, as new leaves develop in the spring.