Teas try to grow year 'round. I have blooms in Nov/Dec then January hits hard. When temperatures drop below about 25F, new growth blackens and foliage browns. The foliage doesn't drop cleanly, it clings to the branches and I snip it off (a big job on a big plant!). I don't fertilize teas after July 4 per Ann P's advice and this cuts down on late basals. So the short answer to your question is... you will need to groom MBC to get bare sticks or look at tattered brown foliage until March.

"I read an account of someone trying to breed a hardy big leaf in NJ. It might have been Hank Schannen - he's certainly a reasonable candidate but it might have been someone else. Maybe rarefind will introduce one someday." While this thread hasn't died, I'll say for posterity this proved to be Frank Furman of New Jesey and his "Sky" series with mostly R. macabeanum as a 50% parent. The balance was mostly the grex called "Catfortcampy". Rarefind sometimes sells various Sky series. They are some of the most beautiful hybrids that can be grown on the East Coast. The leaves are not huge, but big by Eastern standards, and the flowers and large and gorgeously colored. They are probably a little trickier than an ironclad, so, don't order one unless you have good experience with easier rhododendrons.

I could try taking a cutting of R.glauca later this spring. If the cuting doesn't take I also have some seedlings of it that I could send instead. These are supposed to be hybrids but I don't think they are because they look just like the mother. I'll know for sure once they bloom. I would be interested in Abraham Darby in return.

I am planning a cuttings trade in late February or early March if that is not too far away.