We are in different climates, but I love rhodies. I have a kill rate of 4 out of 5 though! For us in Virginia, they do best with not a lot of root competition (so under maples is out). They need very barky soil, in fact I plant them in a couple bags of pine bark. They need good drainage, preferably on a slope. And in our climate they need shade (or at least filtered sun) at least from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm in summer. Keep very well watered the first year or two until they dig in. Try to score the rootball when you plant them.

Thank you Dave for all those tips! I'm glad you had at least ONE take for you.... [g]

I have neighbors who have Rhodies so I should be able to get one going. I think I have a place to put it that just gets less than 2 hrs of sun in the morning and shade the rest of the time - dappled shade at some times of the day. I have a spot between two trees so it's not under the drip line and I think aside from putting it against the foundation of the house in too much sun, that's going to be my best bet.

I will definitely make sure to water it well until it gets established.. And yes, I always try to loosen the rootball or score it if I can't.

I would avoid too shady a placement. Rhodies are far more sun tolerant than many suspect. Except for very hot summer areas, full sun is perfectly acceptable and will encourage much better flowering than if in much shade. I had rhodies the size of a school bus in full sun in my old garden!

Otherwise, make sure your soil is adequately acidic and be sure to plant very shallowly. Also water deeply several times in late summer to set flower buds for the following season.

GardenGal, where was your last garden? Pacific NorthWest? I wonder if Rhodies grow differently here in New England. with winter winds and winter sun.

Not sure I want to wade into this again but I will...

Let's just flat out say Rhododendrons are a cranky genus in all but very salubrious maritime climates like gardengals'. Nevertheless that doesn't discount what she says. They will perform better with "the most amount of sun up to what they cannot tolerate for various reasons". The genus is also INCREDIBLY diverse, and the type of rhododendron plays a big role; the 'US east coast ironclads' as I would call them, to distinguish from the slightly wider, wimpier group of plants the English call ironclads, can probably grow in almost full sun in parts of the continental US with slightly cooler summers and not the very worst winters. Zone 6a-7a roughly. Like SE PA, NE Ohio along the lake for sure, and most anywhere in southern NY. Even here in Cecil County, MD, I have seen several ironclads in full sun, although they seem to have a penchant for getting cut down because there's a creeping anti-evergreen bias at the moment. These are the cultivars like 'Roseum Elegans'. I would not rank 'Scintillation' as one of those, however. It's a Dexter, all of which have a bit of Rhododendron fortunei in them to my knowledge, and thus I'm saying practically anywhere they are grown in the eastern US, they will need a bit of shade at the hottest part of the day. Even in coastal Mass.

David, you seem to know a heck of a lot more about Rhododendron's then I do. [g] While I have wanted a Rhododendron for years and attempted to grow one once or twice, I've never studied them. They just seem to be everywhere I look in my area. It is probably the first shrub any builder or landscape company adds to a new home's foundation here. A number of my neighbor's seem to grow them effortlessly, so I just made a very minor effort to identify one I wanted and put it where I wanted it and not where it needed to be and that worked out poorly. And this time, I've done it again and made an impulsive decision, only because I was thinking of getting one, found myself at a nursery and they were having an end of season sale @ 50% off and it looked like it was in pretty good shape. Nice dark foliage and dense with some flower buds ready to go for next spring. So, $50. and I brought it home.

In my area, we have a nursery that specializes in Rhododendron and has bred them for years. Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton, where the Boston Marathon starts every spring. I have been to that nursery numerous times and they have some really great looking Rhododendrons all growing in a wooded area among very tall evergreen trees in a lot of shade. I did ask the nursery where I bought it where to place it and they suggested more shade than sun, screened from winter winds and from winter sun.

My neighbor across the street has had a Rhododendron up against the front of his house since I moved here 40+ years ago and it's huge and he doesn't prune it. It faces West with a tree between it and the sunshine and is along the foundation so it has solid shade in the morning. Here is a photo of it...

And he does absolutely nothing to it. I have no idea which variety it is and I'm sure neither does he, but it is a common Rhododendron in this area. A lot of the plant material in this neighborhood must have been placed by the builder of the development and that was in the 1950s. So, looking at that, I have the idea that it should be pretty easy to grow a Rhododendtron here. Pretty sure that Rhododendron was there before the tree, which was a weed seedling that grew up in a hedge and they kept it and got rid of the hedge. [g] I'm trying to plant in an established yard with 40+ year old trees already in place. I am sure if I made it more of a priority and went to the nursery here that specializes in them and had a well thought out plan, I should be able to have some success. And I hope to do that when other priorities stop marching to the front of my to do list. [g] In the meantime, I already planted the Rhodie and doubt that it is in the right place, but I wanted to get it in the ground and I thought I'll have the winter to spend a little more time researching it and figuring out if it is in an okay spot or not and I can always move it in the spring. it definitely should have protection from winter winds with a Taxus to it's west and an Arborvitae to the south of it and only a little morning sun and shade a lot of the day. So at the worst, it won't get as much sun as it would like.

I really appreciate your post, because I did have it in the back of my mind, that GardenGal does live where she might have an easier time growing some things than I do, but in this instance I wasn't sure if that was the case or not. And clearly there is enough difference between varieties to be more careful to select based on what your site offers. So, again, I benefited from reading your post, as well as everyone else's, so thanks. I can see I have not been careful enough about selection and siting.

Your winter winds are from the West? Ours are from the northeast. I get the big, windblown snowdrifts on the south side of the garage.

Weston Nursery would be a great place to ask for advice. They are one of the last 'serious' retail nurseries left in the US.

The picture of a big rhodie looks like 'Roseum Elegans'. That is also probably the most common large, house devouring rhododendron seen along the PA Main Line. Here's a good explainer: https://cornellbotanicgardens.org/in-praise-of-the-old-fashioned-rhododendron/

When looking for a rhododendron that might be able to grow here without too much babying*, I ended up with R. ‘Catawbiense Album’. So far so good. In another year or two, it should be large enough that some of the flowers are too high for the hoofed rats to get

to. It was a white ironclad I could find.

*colder than Ithaca, and probably more alkaline soil.

Now we’re cooking! I love the idea of an ‘ironclad’ and yes, no babying - MGallica.

Here is the list of plants in stock @ Weston Nurseries and they have 3 pages of Rhododendrons to choose from.

Weston Nurseries Plants in Stock

And we also have the Arnold Arboretum here which I haven’t visited nearly enough and they do have quite a collection of Rhododendrons, I just am usually fully occupied with garden work when they are in bloom and rarely visit anywhere. I should make it a point to visit while their Rhododendrons are in bloom. I have felt that I could really become fascinated with Rhododendrons once I experienced more than the usual box store variety of them on every corner.

https://arboretum.harvard.edu/collections/rhododendron-dell/

I looked it up and the Rhododendron’s I’ve tried in the past were … ‘Nova Zembla’ - ‘Purple Gem’ - ‘Girard’s Fuchsia’ was given to me as a gift and Rhododendron carolinianum and I thought I tried a Maximum once, too, but I must have forgot to list it. I am surprised that I’ve tried that many.

My property is dry with never any standing water. Mature tree roots everywhere and a pH of about 6 in loamy clay for the most part. Mostly full to part shade with a few small areas of 6hrs of sun and one 15x20 bed that is in full sun.

Yes, MGallica - My winter winds are from the NW. I seem to have a wind tunnel along my fence line that is along my north lot line and it comes in from the West.

Hoofed rats? [g]

Thank you David, for confirmation that Weston is a good nursery. They are a 45min drive away from me, so they are not my first 'go to' nursery, but I'll have to pay more attention and make the effort. And thanks for the link on old fashioned rhododendrons, very interesting.

‘Nova Zembla’ - in addition to having a truly hideous color in my most humble opinion, is just not a strong grower like the other, "official" ironclads. Even though it is often grouped with them, especially by nurseries. The Holden Arboretum study of root rot gave it a moderately susceptible rating. Although root rot may not usually be a big issue in the northern tier of states yet, why take chances?

here is the list btw

https://www.rhododendron.org/blog/?view=plink&id=205

As for root rot though, I still wouldn't recommend those for anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon. (high elevations notwithstanding, of course)

I want to know what's wrong with red flowers! They are certainly far more striking than the Pepto Bismol pink that so many rhodies lean towards. I detest anything pink....such a wimpy, unappealing color!! 😖