Rainwater vs Irrigation: Why Plants Always Prefer a Natural Drink

Green leaves on a tree branch with raindrops falling and rainwater droplets clinging to the leaves, set against a blurred natural background.

Rainwater vs Irrigation: Why Plants Always Prefer a Natural Drink If you’ve ever walked around the garden after a good downpour and thought everything looked greener, brighter, and somehow happier, you’re not imagining it. Rainwater really is the best drink your plants can get. While well water, bore water, and treated town supply certainly keep…

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A Colourful Six Weeks at RhodoDirect

Several colourful vintage cars and motorcycles are parked on grass under a sunny sky, with trees and fencing in the background. Text reads: “Veteran Vintage Car Club Visit.” Sponsored by RhodoDirect.

Although the weather has been wildly unpredictable this season — snow, severe hailstorms, late frosts and everything in between — the rhododendrons have still managed to shine. They’ve taken every bit of extreme weather in their stride, and honestly, I think this year they’ve proven just how tough and resilient they really are. Over the…

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Lisa is Going Potty Potting Up!

A woman wearing glasses and gloves works on projects at a potting station, holding a small potted plant surrounded by seedlings, tools, and cups.

🌿 Lisa is Going Potty Potting Up! If you’ve ever wondered what happens before a rhododendron ends up ready for sale at RhodoDirect, let me take you behind the scenes. There’s never any downtime here in the nursery — it’s a constant cycle of growing, potting, pruning, and re-potting again! And now that we’ve added…

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Stop and Smell the Rhodos – Discover the Fragrant Rhododendrons

A collage of five images showcasing fragrant rhododendrons and a rhododendron bud in a plant nursery setting invites you to discover rhododendrons in all their vibrant beauty.

Stop and Smell the Rhodos – Discover the Fragrant Rhododendrons One of the questions I often get asked at the nursery is, “Are there any rhododendrons that are fragrant?”The answer is a resounding yes! And once you’ve grown a few of these beauties, you’ll find yourself seeking them out again and again. While colour often…

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Hot Winds, Cooked Flowers, and Resilient Rhododendrons

Cluster of white flowers with browning edges and green leaves, photographed outdoors in bright sunlight, shows the effects of hot winds, against a blurred natural background.

Hot Winds, Cooked Flowers, and Resilient Rhododendrons What a windy start to our flowering season! Initially, our display garden was at least two weeks later than normal, but then one hot, windy Saturday arrived and everything seemed to change at once. The warm blast encouraged the flower buds to open — and at the same…

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Fighting Thrips the Natural Way

A small black and brown insect is on a green leaf near several oval-shaped scale insects, demonstrating natural pest control ideal for organic gardening.

Fighting Thrips the Natural Way 🌿 If you’ve ever noticed silvery patches on leaves, distorted flowers, or tiny little critters hiding inside blooms – chances are you’ve met thrips. These tiny sap-sucking insects might be small (less than 2 mm long!) but they can cause a lot of damage in the garden, especially when numbers…

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Taking RhodoDirect to the Next Level

A semi-rural property with greenhouses, a shed, chicken coop structures, and a grassy yard enclosed by a wooden fence—perfect for taking your gardening to the next level with inspiration from RhodoDirect.

If you’ve been following RhodoDirect for a while, you’ll know we’re always looking for ways to grow (pun fully intended). This year has brought one of our biggest turning points yet — the moment we stepped into the world of wholesale. Earlier in the year, we had the chance to take on the wholesale side…

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Cold? What cold? Early Rhododendrons Laugh in the Face of Winter!

A close-up of a bush with green leaves, showing three early Rhododendrons buds at different stages—one partially blooming with a visible purple petal—highlights the charm of cold hardy plants.

There’s something magical about the very first rhododendron flowers of the season. When the mornings are frosty, the air still has that winter bite, and most of the garden is quietly biding its time, these early bloomers jump the gun and deliver splashes of colour long before spring officially arrives. Here at RhodoDirect, the hard…

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Last Call for Bulbs! A Rhodo Companion

A cardboard box with a blue plastic liner holds bulbs and features a printed photo labeled "Belville," showing a yellow lily—a perfect rhodo companion—taped to the side.

If you haven’t already popped your spring bulbs in the ground… don’t panic, but now’s the time to get moving. I just found a rogue bucket of forgotten daffodils in my shed (whoops), and some of mine were so eager they actually flowered in May. Nature’s definitely having a bit of a laugh this season!…

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