Non-blooming rhodie

Help again, please. I live in central New Jersey. My 4 year old rhodie is located in an optimum location, but has yet to produce anyhing but new leaves - I have yet to see a beautiful
blossom. Any suggestions as to what I should/can do - if anything?
Thank you
ljbmale@aol.com

Can you describe your optimum location in a bit more detail just in case it's not quite as optimal as it might appear at first glance? Also, how much are you watering and fertilizing? What is your soil pH? Are there any problems with the leaves or are they perfectly green and healthy? One possibility at least this year is that the buds were damaged in that late freeze that you all had, that ruined the chances for many spring/early summer bloomers for this year. In previous years, it could be it was still getting established, sometimes things will take a few years to bloom. Or it could be that something in either the location, soil, or care (fertilizer/water) is off a bit.

HI IJBMALE, I grow lots of Rhododendrons, they are usually easy care shrubs/trees, what is your opto position???? these plants dont like a lot of early morning WINTER sun as this can effect the flower buds, especialy IF you have had a heavy frost the night before, it causes the buds to rot. As you said, the plant is getting new leaves, then it is obviously growing, however, Rhododendrons form the flower buds the year before they flower, is it pos that something has knocked these buds off??? they like plenty of water say from about August/September to enable the buds to form and swell, has it been pruned???? this would remove the flower buds. Rhodo's need an acid soil, have you got that or added some acidity to your soil???? they also like peaty or leaf mould added around the roots, pine needles are a good source of acidity as are other trees, they are not deep rooting plants, have you planted it too deep???? was the shrub in flower when you planted it??? this will let you know if it was a mature enough plant to start with, do you have a label for the plant that would perhaps give an idea as to the type, conditions that suit etc???? Did you get the plant from a reputable source???? they are costly plants that should outlast you, so maybe you should get back to the grower, lastly, if you do start to feed the plant, you have to use a Rhododendron/Azalia fertaliser that is suited to acid loving plants. if you can answer some of these questions, then I should be able to help answer some of the problems you have, I have over 50 Rhododendron in my garden and most are in flower right now, they start in Feb/March and go right through till June, then I start to deadhead them, give them a feed and dont have to touch them again till next year after flowering, some need a good bit of shade also, so it really depends on what kind of plant you have, however, I have never known any NOT to flower given the proper conditions and you get many years of beauty from them that makes up for the cost of buying them.
Hope this gets you some ideas as to what the current problems could be, let us know some answers and help will be ready. good luck,
WeeNel.

To ecrane 3 and WeeNel :
Thank you for your responses. My rhodie was purchased from a reliable source - at my local nursery. I fertilize it with Hollytone at the beginning of spring. Now that it is 4 years old, I do not water it as much as I did when it was a new planting. But it does get watered regularly, especially if we are experiencing periods of short
rainfall. Interestingly enough, the other rhodies that I have, most of which are over 20 years old, do bloom each and every year. Location-wise, this rhodie is in the rear of my property, sits near some stately pin oaks, gets maybe 3-4 hours of sun in the mid-morning, and then shade the rest of the day. The nurseryman who sold me the shrub told me it is in an ideal spot.
I want to thank you for your timely response. Any more advice will be welcomed.
ljbmale@aol.com

Could it be that it is too close to the OAKS and they are taking away all the moisture and neutrients from the soil, I would like it to have a bit longer sunlight, I cant say about the Holly feed as I am in the UK, I have not heard of this, our feed is specific for Rhodo's, Azalias etc, but I chuck some on my heather plants for good measure.
If all your other Rhododendrons are flowering each year, you are not new to them, I can only sugest that it is the site you have chosen for this one, especialy as you said that it is growing new leaves, give it another year and if still no buds forming this year, then I can only say you move it to another well prepared sit, as you will know, they are quite shallow rooted growers, so if you move it, start now and spade down around a wide section of the root, that will cut some of the roots, then spread some peat/acid compost into where you dug at the roots, this will encourage new FINE roots to grow, then come autumn, dig as much rootball and soil as you can and replant into the new position, this way you wont cause so much shock to the plant, put plenty peat/acid compost in new planting hole, give the plant a gentle rock about in the new hole so that all the soil settles around the roots and no air pockets are left, this should do the trick, sometimes if the transeplant is quite large, I lay a few heavy stones on top of the soil around the root to stop it rocking in the wind, it always works for me, I learned this from an old Italian man who propagated from seed and stem cuttings, he won prizes for his work so a good teacher. good luck and hope your plant now realises it better get a move on or it will be moved, that helps, Ha, Ha, Ha, WeeNel.