Where can I order Rhododendrons

I live in Santa Barbara, CA. Years ago I had two lovely, thriving Rhododendron bushes and when it became time to do the patios they were in harms way. Even though it was the wrong time of the year to try and transplant them we dug their rootballs and transplanted them. They struggled but finally succumbed to the inevitable.

We are in the process of re-landscaping our front yard and I want to set aside a place for 2 or 3 Rhododendrons but haven't been able to find any nursery in Santa Barbara or the surrounding area that carries them. Does anyone on the California list know of a reliable mail order source in California who sells Rhododendrons?

Thanks for your help.

Barb

I got one from Singing Tree Nursery last year and I remember they had a pretty wide selection. They're not in CA though, but you may have better luck if you expand your search beyond CA--rhodies do great in the Pacific Northwest so there are plenty of places up there that would carry them.

Did you ask your nursery if they would special order them for you? Mail order plants are so small in general and Rhodies grow so slowly it would be better if you could get them in larger containers. If I were to Mail order I would contact Greer Gardens. They specialize in Rhodies in fact. They can probably ship a larger one to you if you are willing to pay the shipping also. The story in the watchdog is mixed though but I bought a tree from them last year and it came in very good shape.
http://www.greergardens.com/

Hello ecrane and doss,

Thank you for the suggestions on where to order Rhodies. I've been haunting the local nurseries for over a year and also trying to see if they would order several plants for me all without success.

Ironically I walked into the local Home Depot store Monday, low and behold they had a small selection of Rhodies from a grower in Sacramento. Talk about coincidence!
They were nice looking 1 gallon size plants. The price was $4.95 for the gallon size plant. I did purchase three, a beautiful purple named Anah Kruschke and a lovely lemon yellow called Lemon Dream. The Anah Kruschke should do fairly well in our area with a complete soil exchange. Lemon Dream is questionable but am willing to try it.

I'm still looking for a pale pink so will try Singing Tree Nursery and Greer Gardens.

Never in a million years would I have expected to find Rhodies in a Home Depot Store.

Thanks again.

You never know what you'll find at the Home Depot. Glad that you found something you liked. Can't beat that price. As long as you don't buy hostas at the Home Depot it's always a bargain.

Singing Tree has excellent rhodies, including the rarer fragrant ones.

Doss, you piqued my curiosity. . . . .why shouldn't one buy Hostas at a Home Depot store??? Did you have a bad experience?

I did see some Hostas somewhere and it may have been at the local Home Depot this past week. It was a nice selection.

I tried planting Hostas years ago and had a real snail problem. I was reluctant to use any snail bait because of the dogs and the dogs seemed to love making an outside bed on them.

Hi jkom51,

I noticed what a lovely Rhodie selection Singing Tree has. I think when things settle down a little bit more here, I will be visiting their web site again and I'm sure I'll place an order. There are two Rhodies that I'm looking at and they seem to be the only nursery that has them.

Thank you for your thoughts.

I just ordered something from Singing Tree last week, and their website shopping cart wasn't working, you could put things in but then it wouldn't let you check out. So if that happens to you, just give them a call and order your plants over the phone. They guy who I talked to there said they had switched internet providers or something and it was making the website misbehave. Maybe they've got it fixed by now, but in case not don't give up, just call them!