Lee's Dark Purple Rhododendron

Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Provide well drained soil, rich in organic matter. Feed with an acid fertilizer after bloom. Keep roots cool with a thick layer of mulch. Pruning time: spring after flowering.

Few Rhododendron can compare with the size and intense color of this beauty. Makes an ideal background shrub that can cover utilities or bring down the scale of a stark two-story wall. Large enough for a privacy screen or a careful hedge to block undesirable views. Great as a single specimen accented with plants that won't compete for attention. Makes a great softener for prominent building corners.

This large elegant beauty deserves equally stunning companions such as Pearl Maxwell Camellia, (Camellia japonica 'Pearl Maxwell'), Valley Rose Pieris, (Pieris japonica 'Valley Rose'), Ice Cap Garden Phlox, (Phlox paniculata 'Dasfive') and Bright Lights Plantain Lily, (Hosta x 'Bright Lights').

The genus Rhododendron is grouped into the heath family, Ericaceae which contains many acid soil loving species. The species are native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere but are most abundant in the Himalayas and other mountains of Asia. This plant is a cultivar of the species, R. catawbiense which is a native of southeastern United States with a range extending from Virginia to Georgia and Alabama. It was introduced into Europe in 1799 by John Fraser, a Chelsea, England nurseryman who was a leading importer of North American plants. This species is found in the ancestry of many of the modern Rhododendron hybrids. 'Lee's Dark Purple' is an early R. catawbiense cultivar introduced before 1851 and is counted among the "ironclads."

Rhododendron was named and classified by Linnaeus who named it from the Greek for rose tree. This genus also contains shrubs commonly called azaleas within its 800 Rhododendron species and thousands of hybrids.