Well, I thought we were going to get spring here in NY and VT however..........then we got 10 degree nights back and 30 degree days back this past week along with 4-5 inches of snow!!!!!!!!!!!! Before the snow came we were getting paches of lawn showing and one section of my rhubarb patch had finally creeped out of the crusty snow. It started to send up shoots about 2 inches long and a few tiny leaves were trying to unroll. Then BOOM! The next morning we had snow! So yet another week or more until this white mess will go away enough to work outside. I am going to start seeds tomorrow for tomato and peppers. And I am also going to get about 30 bags of potting soil for my bare root seedlings we have arriving in a few weeks. It is sad that none of the big centers are even ready for us early spring workers yet. I went all over trying to find 2 and 3 cubic foot bags of potting and top soil and peat moss and such for my April arriving plants. And only Lowes was ready with things in place and easy to see what was there and how much it cost. Everywhere else had some stuff but it was still all wrapped up on pallets and you couldn't see what exactly it was and your guess on the cost. So I guess Lowes is getting my money this spring since I need to be ready to go for when the plants show up so they can be potted for sale.

Hi, I generally don't approve of giving a noid a name but as the last person said how many can there be? I got this list by searching FC2 and since there were only five I thought it might be worth a shot. Use the names and go to the AVSA.org site to see if any of the following 5 look like yours. Good Luck, Fred in NJ Alamo Sunshine (8395) 03/08/1996 (H. Pittman) Double white/yellow. Variegated medium green and white, plain. Standard Golden Plume (8242) 07/28/1995 (S. Sorano) Semidouble white star/yellow mottling. Variegated medium green and white, pointed, quilted, serrated. Standard Golden Spirit (8871) 06/13/2000 (J. Brownlie) Semidouble white and yellow pansy. Variegated medium green and white, plain. Standard Summer Sunshine (Lyon) Double white frilled star/yellow blush eye. Variegated medium green and white, wavy. Standard Wrangler's Western Daze (W. Smith) Single medium lavender-purple star/yellow eye. Variegated green, pink and cream. Standard

Living in NH, I'd be mighty surprised if you didn't have acid soil. I think the whole state (as well as all of VT, MA, ME, and some of NY state and southern New England) has acid soil. The one exception would be next to a new source of concrete, which will leach into the surrounding soil to make it more basic (less acid.) If it were my plant, I'd either move it now when it has no leaves, or I'd wait until next year when it's really made some progress and protect it for this winter in its current spot. Another thing to do is to check out the hardiness of the variety. If you bought it many places, it may not be hardy (both some of the varieties I see in local nurseries and in the big box stores are rated for zones 5b and 6, and it's not worth trying to keep those alive in zone 4b or 5a, IMO.) I've given you a source to check out hardiness ratings. You type in the variety name and it will give you info on that variety. A light pinebark mulch would be great since rhodies are shallow rooted and like even moisture, not wet, but not really dry. They also would like the added organic matter. Here is a link that might be useful: Rhododendron Society Database Search

Bumblebeez, mine are typically cut back to within 6 inches or so of the ground but I don't really measure when I cut back. Mine reach a height of ~3 feet tall in typical summers and I have cut back the flowerheads after blooming and gotten second blooms. Mine are in an area out front where they get no special care as they are naturalized in an area and have reseeded themselves. I know that some people like leaving the stalks of many plants up over the winter for winter interest, but I find that if they are going to get blown down and blow across the yard, they get cut back. I have this issue with quite a few plants but the grasses are the worst in the bunch! Russian sage tends not to have this issue but while I am out in the area tidying it up for winter, they typically get cut back too!