Rhodo recovery

At least it bloomed!

 I thought I was going to lose this rhodo last year, but it did come back.  I followed advice from a couple of people, one who told me to take the rocks away form around the base of the plant. the roots are delicate and don't like pressure.  Another member of the Garden Club gave me some aluminium sulfate to put around the base of the plant and it made a huge difference. I'm amazed it bloomed.  The buds held on all winter and I did doubt they would open, but actually it was quite lovely.  The blooms have almost dropped now, but I'm happy.

Size when I bought it. And it was covered in buds!

A year later - smaller, has lost almost all its leaves, but is starting  to look healthy.

I was relieved to see that the Rhododendrons at the Brueckner Garden had the same mysterious brown leaves as my plant suffered from.  They encouraged me to wait out whatever it was/  I clipped out the branches as the leaves withered and turned brown and new shoots come in nicely green. I hope it stays healthy this summer and blooms next year.