I am in constant amazement at the information (or lack of it) that is posted on these forums. First, not all rhododendrons are native to woodland locations. There are many species rhodies that originate from alpine, rocky and very exposed situations and the only thing they share with their woodland cousins is a preference for acidic soils. Most of the common hybrids DO owe their parentage to the more woodland species and prefer an organic, well-drained soil and the partial shade common to this type of environment. The only resentment rhodies have to compost (other than mushroom compost - too alkaline) is that it is typically applied too heavily as a mulch. Rhodies have shallow, dense root systems with a mass of feeder roots located just below the soil surface. Piling on any type of mulch - compost, pine needles, bark, etc., in anything other than a very thin layer to the dripline can easily smother these delicate roots. It certainly doesn't hurt to amend your soil (not just the planting hole) with organic matter like a good, finished compost and I have planted them in pretty nearly straight compost with no ill effects. As most soils tend not to be as acidic as rhodies prefer (5.5 or lower), they are often not able to access needed nutrients or trace elements without supplemental fertilization. Since finished compost (other than mushroom) is nearly neutral in pH and is very low nutrient-wise, it seldom helps either in terms of maintaining acidity or nutrient supplementation. If you have concerns regarding chemical fertilizers and your pets and kids (personally, I'd be more concerned about chemical pesticides or the toxic nature of the plants themselves), you can always opt for an organic formulation for acid lovers. Espoma's HollyTone is common in the east and midwest and Whitney Farms and Dr. Earth are similar west coast products and are 100% organic, although I wouldn't recommend eating them :-) Or you can always use an liquid fertilizer like fish emulsion as a soil drench - it is quite acidic. While I tend not to fertilize much of anything in my garden, being blessed with (and worked hard to achieve) an excellent, nutrient rich organic soil, I do fertilize my rhodies, azaleas and other ericaceous annually with an ACR fertilizer to compensate for less than optimum soil acidity. And Washington State is pretty much the rhododendron capital of the US.

Hi Harborrose: My rhododendrons are 9 years old. They are right in front of my door - look the same every year until now, the leaves have pink streaks when I put espresso grounds (we have lots of rain). I don't know what's in the espresso that put pink stripes to the leaves - I tasted the espresso, extremely bitter compared to my hubby's ground. For the past month all my roses are great - dark green leaves with hubby's coffee ground from Sam's club. Hi Michael: Thank you very much for your info. I tested the acidity of both espresso and coffee ground twice: with red cabbage boiled in alkaline hard water, the second time with red cabbage boiled in distilled water. What happened puzzled me until you clarified - many thanks: Red cabbage indicator boiled in alkaline tap water: espresso ground and coffee ground both turned pinkish (acidic) within 10 minutes. After 4 hours the reddish water changed to CLEAR in the coffee ground solution (you are right about its instability, I also read that coffee ground is a buffer, rather than acidic). The solution above the espresso ground retained its pink color. I repeated the experiment again today, with red cabbage boiled in distilled water. Both coffee ground and espresso turned reddish brown. After 1 hour, I was surprised to see a CLEAR SOLUTION above the coffee ground -the espresso ground solution was still pink. I also tested red cabbage boiled in distilled water with at least 10 other samples. Here are the results: Purple indicator turns BRIGHT pink with a few drops of vinegar (reported pH 2.4) - Espresso ground is next in pink (my estimate pH 3 to 4) - Coffee ground is slight pink but turned CLEAR after 1 hour. The control red cabbage color is the SAME as indicator solution in Epsom salt (pH is neutral as expected). Previous wrong alkaline result with Epsom salt was from boiling red cabbage in hard alkaline water. There is no change in color with calcium citrate (it's just more whitish with calcium dust). Baking soda is bluish-green (reported pH of 9). Magnesium supplement (magnesium oxide) is bright green, and the most alkaline. Peatmoss is the same color as alfalfa meal within the first 5 minutes - but after 1 hour settling down the peatmoss is clearly darker pink. Reported pH of peatmoss is 4, my estimate of alfalfa is 5. MiracleGro potting soil is slightly pink (reported pH of 6.5). My amended topsoil is slightly bluish-purple (reported pH of 7.7, tested professionally by EarthCo.) - The bottom yellow clay is more blue, my estimate pH of 8, same as tap water tested with fish-tank litmus paper. Here's my big disappointment with HomeDepo's EarthGro bagged topsoil (the white/red bag). It's greenish blue, at least 8.5 pH. Horse manure is alkaline as expected, my estimate at 8.7 (others report a higher value). The Moo Manure (sold at HomeDepo) is the most alkaline, the same color as the baking soda solution (reported pH of 9). The most prolific bloomer in my garden is Radio Times, planted in Scott's Premium topsoil with peatmoss - I did not test this, but expect it to be neutral, or slightly acidic with peatmoss. Other roses amended with HomeDepo's Earthgro topsoil or Moo-manure don't bloom as much, with more yellowish leaves. Now I know why.

I have a question also about Rhodies. Can I transplant mine now, or as soon as I can dig? Mine do not do well where they are and I'd really like to relocate them.

It's probably easier just to do everybody a few times a year. Say late April (post when the stuff would bloom), late May (to catch the end of spring growth surge) and July (bud development for the following year). All feeding amounts can be the same (and, using Milo, fairly heavy). Really, we're arguing semantics. However you want to feed between April 15th and August 15th is up to you! I wouldn't feed earlier to avoid impacting bloom quality, and I wouldn't feed later to avoid lots of greenery growth just before fall, but other than that, the window's pretty wide. Using an organic of any type, the plant's tolerance will be extremely high even for feedings at the wrong time and they're not particularly sensitive to the amount they receive.