Rhododendron Horizon Monarch

Yes I've suffered die back with some of mine to Kat, that's a lovely one there.

I have also Horizon Monarch ...but quite different from yours Katarina.

Very pretty indeed.

Hi, Slad. Isn´t it strange? I have read that to Central Europe this sort of killing mould (hope this is correct English expression) was imported with plants from the Netherlands. Therefore I am very careful when buying rhodies now, I check each leaf.
Hi Klahanie, so you don´t think this is Horizon MOnarch? Please, upload photo with your rhododendron. It is possible, but that is what my label says. I bought it 2 years ago as a very small shrub, as I experimentally planted it in a garden where I have a lot of sun and no water. So differentiate correct information at that time is harder.

Yes that's the right expression Kat, I've lost 4 now I keep checking my others with a close eye..

Hi Katarina, this rhodo is very beautiful (I saw it in your other picture) Mine is just less pink (more yellow) and the cluster is more lose. Yours is in a way prettier than mine. And if I look at the pictures on the web there are so many variations. Enjoy yours.

Does it survive without the water in the summer?

I would like to see yours, Klahanie. Although, you are right, Horizon Monarch can have different shades of rainbow, I would say. But it always have tight clumps of flowers (grandiflora sort of rhododendron).

The first one I bought 4 years ago. It was a large shrub, had almost 1 meter when I bought it. I planted in on a sunny place under the pine tree, into acidic nest and irrigated it regularly, but within 6 months it started to die branch by branch. So after 2 years I bought a smaller one and planted it into the garden without irrigation. I planted it among higher trees, so it never has direct sun. I put a LOT of peat into the nest and I keep place around it without weeds and just add acidic soil with fertiliser in the spring as a "mulch". Of course, when there are more days without rain then one week, I irrigate it with a 5 l canister of water. That´s all, it seems this garden is healthier.

I hope it will perform well for you in the new location. Looked healthy in your picture. Is that the one in your avatar?
We have very dry summers on Vancouver Island (never rains) in comparison to winters when it rains almost daily.
Lots of rain has a negative consequence for the plants.
One of mine just died of what I think was phytophtora, root rut. It was about 40 years old. It is sad to see it suffer.

I have posted my Horizon Monarch for you to see. The buds start pinkish but when it opens there is no pink in it ...just yellow.

Hi Klahanie. No, in my avatar there is hortensia grandiflora Anabelle ;-)