I planted 2 Northern Lights Azalea's and 2 Rhodo's last year, one PJM and an Elviira. I killed the PJM by planting it in the wrong spot, not sure how the Azalea's will do but Elviira is looking pretty good so far. I went with it because it is supposed to stay small, 2'x2'. I got all on sale, so no great loss if they fail. All the plants got nailed by a hard frost after they were put out at S.Store and looked like s.... There is 3 flower buds on Elviira, I will post success or failure later. I have also been wondering if any one is having any luck with these plants.

Did you acidify the soil when you planted it. I have planted several Northern Lights, but most of them have died. A couple are alive and bloomed last year.

I have a Nova Zembla that is looking horrible too. Been 2 years and only had one bloom. It has one healthy looking branch so I think I will dig it up, pot it and amend it's soil a bit more.

My most successful ones and the ones I see the most around town are the PMJ's. They seem to do well here.

I forgot to answer your original question ostrich! Of course the answer is to yank everything and buy new ones....don't forget that the plants closest might also be infected and should be yanked too!!!

SCG, I think I am gonna come to your Zone 4b-5 garden and yank out your stuff for you!!!!! :-)

I agree with northwoodswis4 that PMJ is pretty much the best of the lot that can successfully grown in most of Alberta. I had one at my last location and it did pretty darn good, though it received too much winter sun that damaged the foliage, so it's best to place these where they're be somewhat shaded from winter sun and also not exposed to strong winds, though they really are rather tough plants compared to other varieties. I think I'll track one down this spring, as I have the perfect spot!

Ostrich I wish you would as I am having a terrible time with half hardy perennials, I planted as annuals, coming back after that mild winter.... Sucks to be me....

WOW! I had no idea that PMJ would do OK here!? I even tried that in Zone 5 in Ohio before but it did not do very well there (until I moved it to a less exposed location). Hmm.... maybe I should try PMJ instead? Hmm.... twrosz, how big did your PMJ get in the end? Also, did it bloom very well reliably year after year? Did you do any winter protection for it please?

Oh SCG, it cannot suck that much when you are in zone 4b-5, OKI!?!?!? LOL Just try zone 3 with lots of chinooks and you really start to know what "sucks to be me" truly means... ;-)

Ostrich, the PMJ had grown to about 3 ft and yes it did reliably bloom expect after warm sunny winters when the foliage and flower buds had desiccated ... that's why it's important to situate it properly out of winter sun and wind, though it seems to need no protection from the cold. These plants thrive at the Devonian Botanical Gardens located near Devon, Alberta.

Lol I tried living in calgary once.... I would think an anti-desiccant spray would be important to use in calgary. My DW just informed me that she thought she killed my rhodie by forgetting to water it before I planted it. Mine has one little branch that looks good. Guess it will be a few years before it gets to any size at all.... Grrrr...