Rhododendrons shouldn't need regular pruning, if this one has outgrown the site after pruning last year, chances are its in the wrong place. Rhododendrons set their buds for the coming years flowers in Summer, they are setting buds now for next Spring. The best time to prune is immediately after flowering. Without a photo to go by, this plant sounds large and likely heavy. If you could manage the weight and wanted to move it, you would find they usually move successfully - let us know if that's a possibility and we can give you the tips for relocating one. As for the smaller plant, some varieties are naturally leggy, others will be sparse and leggy in too much shade. What kind of light is it getting? If shade is not too dense for it to grow well (and apparently it had enough light to bloom) - Dormant buds in rhododendron are at the leaf axils, where leaf joins stem. Cutting just above a whorl of leaves will stimulate dormant buds below your cut to sprout. If you must cut lower than any existing leaves to guide your plant, look for faint rings on the bark that mark where there once were leaves and cut just above the ring. When dealing with a smaller, younger plant, you can also remove (pinch off) the terminal leaf buds as they begin to elongate in Spring (closely following bloom time). There is a plant hormone produced in the leaf buds that inhibits development of dormant buds lower on the stem, removing the top/terminal buds will encourage those to grow and the plant to branch out. Flower buds (fatter and blunt tipped) do not produce the hormone so no need to delay flowering, just watch for the foliage buds and pinch or snap those off.

If you are in a fog belt area, you can pretty much do it anytime. Otherwise, Aeonium species in general prefer to reroot most easily/quickly in spring, fall or winter. They aren't in active growth when it is hot.

Sorry.. wrong. Hibiscus are generally easy to root. And easy to root plants sometimes root in water. But having said that... water is never the best way to root anything, it's only the easiest for some people. Cut semi hardwood shoots, 4 to 6 inches, partially defoliate, dip in IBA talc or solution, and stick in perlite peat mix, keep in humid environment, most root in 30 days or so. Fall is not the best time for hibiscus cuttings in my experience, but you should get decent results anyway becasue they are so easy. I think people tend to prune in fall in zones where they are not fully hardy to make protecting them easier. Best practice for the plant is probably spring. Pruning generally encourages new growth. But again, plant is pretty tough shrub so knock yourself out.

Has anybody grown both M. comosus and villosus? M. comosus is definitely zn. 7 in terms of root hardiness. After all Rachel lists it as such and I have had them survive pretty cold winters here in the DC suburbs. However the top does die down below about 20F in my experience. My problem is it appears to bloom on old wood, and the flower buds were forming in December(!), so it will have no chance of blooming here. Now I am trying Melianthus villosus, which I believe comes from somewhat cooler/more montane areas of SA. The seeds took longer to germinate, which I have found is often corrolated with a plant coming from a cooler provenance. cgf.net says it blooms in summer, but they say the same about M. comosus! Based on my strain of M. comosus, I'd say it was trying to bloom in Jan or Feb, not summer. This would make sense since it comes from the winter rainfall side of SA. So when does M. villosus bloom for those of you growing it in Cali, the PNW or South Africa! Thanks!