r/rhododendron

Good morning knowledgeable ones.

I have numerous leafless rhododendrons and azaleas. Why would they have no leaves? Some bushes are bunches of sticks, some have a few poor-looking leaves. (See photos, which are of 3 plants.) They are in acidic, sandy soil at approx 1,000 m above sea level. I didn’t water then during summer and autumn. I haven’t fertilised them. And in autumn they were attacked by ?lace bug. Do these offer any clues as to my first steps to rescue them?

I recently moved from coastal subtropics to this temperate climate at altitude. Therefore I know almost nothing about gardening in my new climate. I inherited a garden full of rhododendrons. I thought nothing of them losing their leaves, thinking they were deciduous. I’ve now discovered that they are evergreen and should be covered in abundant glossy leaves.

I’m in Australia, so it is winter.

Thanks very much for your help :)

Hello, everyone! I bought a house last spring that came with some pretty established beds and this rhodo on the north facade is definitely in need of attention. It's so lopsided in density and I haven't the faintest idea how to help it, plus I don't have much of a green thumb and am afraid I'll kill it. But I'd love to learn how to help it be its most lush beautiful self again

Plz help 🙏🏼

I'm new at landscaping and I planted a few rhodo's at the front of my house. 2 of them seem great. This PJM elite looks worse for wear.

I bought a pH reader and it looks like the soil is too alkaline? I also noticed thready white stuff near the base of the plant.

I also cleared some mulch away from the stem and aerated around the base because the soil is quite wet from being mostly clay mixed with compost.

What is this white stuff? Can this be remedied? Would acidifying the soil help it?

All of my plants are looking sickly. Can anyone help me?

Every year my rhodies get this white stuff on the shaded leaves. I just sprayed them with Neem oil. Anything else i can do? Its a constant battle. The bush itself is really healthy!

This is the second season for these nova zemblias. I have 3 and they all look like this. They never really leafed out and produced only a couple blooms in the spring. I think it was a combo of late planting, harsh winter winds and low light. Is it worth it to replant them now or in the spring in a sunnier part of my property? Or just start over?

Late blooming (late July) spectacular red from North Vietnam.

"I am now calling that straight up facetum. Once we realized that most if not all of the N vietnam material had migrated down from the east Himalaya/western Yunnan (Cangshan, etc.) region via the Red River it was obvious these were mostly just the vietnam forms of familiar species further north. The awesome thing about this is that the Vietnam forms are remarkably hardier, even though they are technically in or close to the tropics. I have a whole lecture just on that bit, really interesting (at least to me). For example, we cannot do facetum from western Yunnan at all, freezes out most years. The one you are showing from N Vietnam has been outside for many years with no cold damage whatsoever, go figure." -Steve Hootman, Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden

First timer. Are these flower buds coming in?