Rhododendron x 'Princess Susan' - Rhododendron from Quackin Grass Nursery

Rhododendron 'Princess Susan' ('Balta' x [minus Carolinianum Group album x PJM Group] selfed...yikes!) – This little domed beauty is cloaked in dark, dull green foliage that turns bronze mahogany-purple when temperatures dip in autumn. This complex hybrid remains an evergreen presence in the winter landscape with its promise of spring flowers enclosed in brownish purple buds studding the foliage. In early to mid-spring the buds erupt into the most gorgeous, deep and glowing violet-purple flowers. 'Princess Susan' originally came our way from the now defunct Environmentals Nursery. So many rhododendrons have been difficult to establish here – more often than not they are simply better suited to milder climates and especially the Pacific Northwest. But 'Princess Susan' has been a stalwart right from the start; she has become a beloved perennial presence. Site in full to nearly full sun planted in acid ground with some fertility. Cutting grown.