CRCCD – Rhodora (a.k.a. Canada Rosebay)

SKU: CRCCD-RHO Category:

Description

Rhododendron canadensis   (QUANTITY LIMITED)

CT DR P

Soil:  Moist, Acidic
Moisture: Moist to Wet
Light:  Full to Part Sun
Plant Height: to 3 feet
Pests:  None
Landscape Value:  Great for damp areas along ponds and streams, in moist meadows and fields, and along moist woodland edges.

Not your ordinary rhododendron!  A multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub with gray-green leaves that turn yellow in the fall.  Showy clusters of rose-purple flowers bloom in April-May before leaves emerge.  Unlike other rhododendrons, flowers are tubeless with a three-lobed upper petal and two separate lower petals.  Fruits are dry brown capsules that split open in late fall.  Tolerates shade and poorly-drained soil.  Good nectar source for early pollinators.  Attracts butterflies, flies, and bees, especially bumblebees.

Long considered a botanical icon of New England, Rhodora was paid homage to in a reflective poem by Transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled “The Rhodora: On Being Asked Whence Is The Flower” (1834, publ. 1847).

2 gallon pot