Rhododendron colemanii Open House Give the crown a mulch

Give the crown a mulch of leaf litter

and standing among the most cold-hardy buddlejas in cultivation

removing it in spring

The deep green color holds beautifully through southern heat and humidity

lighting the late-season garden with the same slender

Rhododendron colemanii Open House Give the crown a mulchRhododendron colemanii, the Red Hills azalea, is one of the most recently recognized of all the native deciduous azaleas, first described as a distinct species only in 2008. For years the plant was folded in with the Alabama azalea, Rhododendron alabamense, which blooms earlier and holds consistently white, yellow blotched flowers; the Red Hills azalea, by contrast, flowers later and in a wider range of color. The species takes its home ground from