Twin flower buds are a very desireable characteristic in any rhodoendron as they produce an especially good display in the spring. As far as this being a characteristic of Haaga and Helsinki, perhaps there is some genetic trait involved. Much more likely, however, is that the double buds are evidence of especially good care on your part. Exposure, attention to deadheading, adequate moisture throughout the growing season and good fertility all contribute to exuberant growth and good bud set. Some things such as sunlight and rain when it's most needed we can't control, but the other things we can. This doesn't mean double buds every year, but what you are clearly doing will increase the chances of repeat performances.

That is great to know. :) I don't fertilize any of my shrubs, per se; but I've been top-dressing the soil with home-made compost for a number of years now, and they seem pretty happy. I make sure they get water when rain is scarce, too. And, I dead-head after blooming.

I've never seen double flower buds before, so I was really happily surprised to see them this year. Can't wait til Spring now. Thanks, mainegrower.

I've seen this a lot in commercial nurseries where they fertilize a lot to get the plants to become marketable sooner. When the buds open, the trusses appear to be twice a big and to have twice as many flowers as normal. Some of their small plants seem to be mounds of trusses. This is especially true at Hachmann's nursery in Germany. Here is an example from this past spring at Hachmann's in Barmstedt, Germany:

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Rcv. Joan Leslie Hammond

Wow. Pretty amazing. Thanks for the photo. I've had Haaga and Helsinki for (probably) close to 10 years now. In all that time they've never been fertilized, nor have either one had twin buds. I wonder if it's because the neighbour beside me had some trees taken out a few years ago, and they do receive a bit more sun in the afternoon than they did in the beginning. Whatever it is, I'll take it. I'll be curious to see, though, if next fall they set less flower buds because they may have expended themselves this year? We'll see.

If my double-buds survive the winter, I'll be sure to take some photos in the spring when they bloom.

A depressing day for me. I was looking out the window, and noticed the subject rhododendrons were looking a little... bare. So I went outside, and checked them. About 90% of the flower buds are gone - along with the tips of branches. We've had so much snow this winter, with the bulk of the snow unmelted yet, with a snow cover of probably 1.5 or 2 metres still. sigh Looks like maybe rabbits (I see some animal prints) or squirrels got to the flower buds - the twin buds included. This has never happened before. :(

An extremely difficult winter for people, animals and plants. Desperate for food, deer, rabbits and/or squirrels would have eaten whatever was available, even things they had never touched before. A shame about the many double buds. The remaining snow depth is even more depressing - thought we were bad with just patches left in shady places.

Thanks for commiserating. Looks like the prints are from squirrels (the larger grey ones). It's hard to take, but I know the animals are suffering this year, which is really sad. I have a couple of heavily budded rhododendrons in the front yard that are still completely buried in snow. I'm hoping nothing eats those, too, as the snow melts.

Thanks for the advice. I don't think I'll use anything based on hot peppers. When I first started gardening, I remember using cayenne (I think) to protect some plants (can't remember what now) it did seem to cause the squirrel a lot of discomfort, so I'm looking for something that really won't hurt anything (even though I'm mighty perturbed about my flower buds!). I might (sigh) cover up my rhodo's in burlap in the future, which seems like a daunting task. I don't know...