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Seattle's Favorite Flower

By
Real Estate Agent with Better Properties Seattle

You can't go anywhere this time of year without seeing tons of Rhodies! (rhododendron).  One of the reasons they are so healthy in areas like Bellevue, with big healty green leaves, is because they thrive so well among the pine trees.  Pine needles that fall to the ground, feed the Rhodies well.

Kim and I love to nurse sick Rhodies back to health, so if you have a Rhododendron that needs a little loving care, give us a holler, and if we're in you're area we'll stop by with some TLC and advice.

Don't forget to deadhead your your blooms as soon as they die off.  The new growth will pop more quickly and the whole plant will be healthier as a result.

Comments (14)

Charlottesville Solutions
Charlottesville Solutions - Charlottesville, VA

Now that is an amazing bloom on that flower. I will share this one with my wife! She will love it!

Your friend in Charlottesville Virginia!

Jun 03, 2008 12:39 AM
Courtney Cooper
Cooper Jacobs - Seattle, WA
206-850-8841

Great picture, ARDELL!  I am not so good with them, but keep inheriting them from family somehow...  What I could really use some help with is Daphne!  I love it and can not get one to stay alive no matter where I put it!

Jun 03, 2008 03:56 AM
Jo Olson
HOMEFRONT Realty - Kettle Falls, WA
Retired - HOMEFRONT Realty @ LAKE Roosevelt

Great picture! I have one the exact color but for some reason only has 3 blooms. It has lots of new grow and is very large about 12 feet - my neighbor said it was planted in the mid 50's. I am nursing it back from about 15 years of neglect. So I will be getting some pine needles to lay around it!

Jun 03, 2008 10:31 AM
Larry Brewer - Benchmark Realty llc
Benchmark Realty LLc - Nashville, TN

Wow - that's a lot of color. THanks for the picture. We don't see this flower in Tennessee.

Jun 03, 2008 03:11 PM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

Jo,

Post a photo of your Rhodie and I'll give you a diagnosis and suggestions for care.

Jun 03, 2008 04:04 PM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

The only problem with a Rhodie is you can't use them in the house.  Bulb flowers make great "cutting" flowers.  Daffodils are fabulous for bringing early Spring inside.  Late in the year I use gladiola as they last until the end of the season.  The trick to lots of gladiola's for summer is to plant them in groups a week a part for fresh cut flowers all season long.

Jun 03, 2008 04:08 PM
Bob Stewart
ActiveRain - Seattle, WA
ActiveRain Ambassador

Are the Rhodies the ones where the flowers change color based on the acidity of the soil? Did you and Amanda talk about that when we had dinner a few weeks ago? If it is them, and you didn't talk about it, how do I have this tidbit of knowledge in my head. It's too late........am I delirious? haha, have a good night Ardell!

 

Jun 03, 2008 07:05 PM
Jesse Clifton
Jesse Clifton & Associates - Fairbanks, AK

That's a gorgeous photo.  My better half has the green thumb in the family... I have a hard time keeping plastic plants alive.

Jun 03, 2008 08:49 PM
Jo Olson
HOMEFRONT Realty - Kettle Falls, WA
Retired - HOMEFRONT Realty @ LAKE Roosevelt

Cool beans, ARDELL - I will get a photo sometime this week.

Jun 04, 2008 02:51 AM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

Bob,

LOL.  No, those are Hydrangea.  We used to call them "Snowball Plants" in Philly.  they go from almost no color to pink to blue to red-blue.  Not really purple, but when some buds are pink and some blue the flower head gets a purple hue with a few purple blooms.

The difference between a pink hydrangea and a blue hydrangea is the acid level of the soil.  We kept buying my Mom blue ones and they would be pink the following year, until we figured out it was the acidity that made them blue.

My Mom kept saying "I thought you bought me a blue one?"  I'll go get a photo and post it below.

Rhodies come in many colors.  I'll post some other colors in the comments as I see them around. 

 

Jun 04, 2008 03:48 AM
Steven L. Smith
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Ardell,

Great photo showing the splendor of the rhoddies here in the northwest. Any given bush does not bloom for very long but when they bloom they are hard to beat. In our yard we have a number that bloom at different times so one is fading as another is coming into bloom. If you have never gone, there is an incredible rhoddie park on Whidbey Island, past Coupeville. Great place on a nice day when they are blooming.

Jun 04, 2008 04:04 AM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

Funny you mentioned that, Steven.  I just got off the phone with a friend who lives on Whidbey saying COME!  The next time I take a day off I want it to be a sunny day...but when sunny days come I'm even busier.

By this time of year I only want to go someplace sunny!

 

Jun 04, 2008 05:22 AM
Anonymous
kelly

I have older neighbors with very overgrown yards that are interested in getting rid of older, leggy Rhodies. I woudl love to savethem and rehabilitate them back. I'm looking for some advice. I have a great spot and just need some nursing advice.

Thanks

May 17, 2010 05:20 AM
#13
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

Hi Kelly,

I was at a friend's house this weekend in Juanita who moved many plants, including rhodies, from a another house to his.  If there are plants other than Rhodies, the advice would be different. But for Rhodies, if you have any say in the timing, they are better done in fall after the summer heat has passed, mid to late September. My friend did them in Spring and they are OK, but they were replanted too close to the heat of summer and look a bit burned out.

If you plant in September, they have the whole fall and winter and spring to take good root before "surviving" the hottest of days. If you must do them now due to the neighbor's timing, try not to choose full sun spots for replanting, or do your best to provide some shade artificially and keep them watered moreso than you would have if they were not transplanted recently.

I like to use miracle grow with acid added to the water to water Rhododendron that I am reviving. See package directions. Rhodies thrive better when not in full son and when they are near acidic plants that drop needles into the dirt, like pine trees. I have even gathered pine needles from elsewhere and used it as much around the rhodie to add acid to the soil and protect the roots.

Rhodies and azalea don't like to be planted too deeply. How much you trim back from the leggy rhododendrun when you plant them depends on the sizeof the root ball, so try to get as many roots as possible when you dig them out. The small the root ball, the more it needs to be trimmed back, even to a foot tall if the root ball is small.

Google "transplanting rhododendrun" and also google "correction rhododendrun legginess" and you will get some good info on that.

Good luck to you and the plants! They may not all survive, but they have a good chance. Just remember if you cut them way back to correct the legginess, they won't look too good for at least a couple of years. Don't write it off as "dead" if you have trmmed off all of the growth and it doesn't start sprouting anew until next season.

 

May 17, 2010 06:12 AM