rhodedendrums

Hi Wendy, sometimes Rhododendrons take a year or two before flowering. so this could be normal if it has recently been planted and it does look healthy in every other way. but having said that, they are fussy plants, Acid soil is a must have! have you tested your soil to find out it's type? another way to tell is if you have other acid lovers in your garden that are thriving, eg Camellia, Pieris, Skimmia, Azaliea ect. the tell tale signs of soil deficiency is yellowing or light coloured leaves. a healthy Rhodo, will have dark green glossy leaves. also they are not fond of full sun, full shade or exposed sites, they are naturally a woodland plant so semi shade in a sheltered spot is best. as for not growing, well some varieties are slow growing. but if you have new leaves it should have increased in size, even if not dramatically. in my expereince leaves usually apear from a big bud at the top of a stem, which can tease you into thinking that a flower is on it's way and then it will open out into several new leaves intead, 4 of mine did this last year (the year after being planted) and like yourself i was a bit miffed as to why it was'nt flowers instead. and it did this all over the bush but with each new batch of leave the stems and overal size of the bush did increase by a few inches. this year 2 out of the four did flower lovely, the other two i am still waiting for. but again they have grown new leaves and increased in size, so i am hoping that they will flower next spring which will be year 3 for them. the last thing i can saggest is feeding with sequesterd iron (not sure if that is spelt right - but any good garden centre would know what you are talking about if you tell them that is what it is for) and this should be done in late feb. so maybe try that if you have all the other things right and hopefully that should push yours into flower for you in the spring. good luck.