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…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

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…

Read More

The Cold Truth About Rhododendrons: Why Frost is Their Favourite Mixer

Frost-covered green leaves and small pink buds of rhododendrons on a plant, with a blurred background of soil and foliage that hints at the cold.

When it comes to winter, some plants hunker down and hope for the best — but not rhododendrons. These hardy shrubs have evolved with some clever cold-weather coping strategies that make them true connoisseurs of chilly conditions. You’ve probably noticed the droop. Rhododendron leaves curl and hang in the cold — and it’s not out…

Read More

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!…

Read More

Pots of Colour: Rhododendrons that Thrive in Containers

If you’ve ever dreamed of having vibrant rhododendron blooms but don’t have the perfect garden soil—or any garden space at all—you’re in luck. Rhododendrons are surprisingly happy in containers, making them perfect for patios, balconies, courtyards, and even rental properties. Whether you’re dealing with clay-heavy ground or just want to add colour and structure to…

Read More

Yellow Leaves? It’s Not Always a Problem – Here’s What Your Rhododendron Is Telling You

A hand holds six rhododendron leaves arranged in a fan, showing a gradient of colors from red and orange to yellow leaves, green, and dark green—highlighting how plant problems can affect rhododendron foliage.

Why Are My Rhododendron Leaves Yellowing? Don’t Panic – It’s Nature Doing Its Thing! Isn’t the weather just wild lately? I don’t know about you, but my poor hens thought it was winter and stopped laying — then, out of the blue, the sun came out, temperatures lifted for a week, and voilà… eggs again!…

Read More