The Making of Our 2026 Collection

Rows of potted flowering rhododendron plants with pink and white blooms are displayed outdoors at a garden center, with informational signs and a wooden fence in the background—an inviting scene from the Rhodo Direct home page.

It’s Time! Step Behind the Scenes as We Prepare Our 2026 Rhododendron Collection When a new rhododendron appears on our website, it might seem like it has simply arrived at the perfect moment. In reality, it has been years in the making. Our 2026 Collection began life back in 2022 — long before we knew…

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Potting Up & Pinching Back

A hand uses pruning shears to cut the stem of a small green plant, pinching back new growth in front of black plastic pots filled with soil.

Behind the scenes, potting up never really seems to stop here at the nursery. Right now, all the cuttings are graduating from their jiffy pots into their 2-litre pots. It really does feel a bit like a ceremony — the babies are off to school. This stage is one of my favourites because it’s where…

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Summer Pruning: The Secret to More Rhododendron Flowers

A person uses a hand saw to prune branches from a leafy tree in a sunlit garden, revealing the secret to healthy growth amid blooming rhododendron flowers, shown from different angles.

Summer Pruning: The Secret to More Rhododendron Flowers Early January is one of my favourite times in the garden. With a bit of spare time over the holidays, Steve and I can finally slow down, observe what’s really happening in the garden, and focus on the jobs that will make the biggest difference long term.…

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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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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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A moment of reflection…

A person in a red plaid shirt leans against a wooden post in a field with multiple upright wooden posts, surrounded by trees, lost in quiet reflection.

What a wild ride the last 6 weeks have been! We’ve just wrapped up a massive construction blitz — and the results are seriously exciting. We’ve installed 10 kilometres of slats on the roof of our brand-new lathe house (yes, we measured!), rammed in 112 posts, and clocked up some serious muscle. Let’s just say…

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Truffling Time

A woman in a plaid coat kneels on the ground in a wooded area, holding a small black dog among fallen leaves and branches—it's truffling time.

🍄 Behind the Scenes – Truffle Trouble and Treasure! If you’ve ever visited the nursery, you’ve probably noticed the hedged rows of pines on one side and the neat rows of hazelnuts on the other. What you might not realise is that under those very trees, something quite special is going on… there’s a whole…

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