Rhododendron

If you were closer, I would exchange them with you, as I have mostly white and pink rhododdendrons. This colour is very nice.
Rkwright, how do you multiply rhododendrons? Is it true, that spreading just wants to take terminal branch with at least one pair of leaves and put it into compost enriched soil?

I'm really not sure what the most effective way of propagating rhododendrons would be. They can be rooted from stem cuttings but it takes a long time (most broadleaf evergreens do). It is probably possible to propagate them through layering, that is what I do with mountain laurels but it takes several months.

A beautiful colour Rkwright. I love Rhododendrons, and am fortunate to be able to grow some in my garden here.

Me too :))))

I would have more if I didn't have so many mountain laurels. Now that I've been able to get a few Kalmia varieties I am more interested in finding them. They are harder to please than rhododendrons but handle the cold winters here better.

You do not rememeber the name of this one, do you?

It is Rhododendron catawbiense but not sure what cultivar. There are dozens of cultivars for this species and several purple ones. It could be Grandiflorum or Boursault, both are common purple/lavender varieties. It's good to pick these plants out when they are in flower, I've picked out several rhododendrons and mountain laurels both that were not tagged correctly. This species and the PJM type are the most commonly sold rhododendrons here so I'd imagine it shouldn't be hard to track one of these down. If you wait until after they are down flowering, a lot of nurseries don't like to over-winter rhododendrons and have huge sales on them.

:)