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@tkg-nc.bsky.socialOct 2, 2026, 1:07 AM

The Wild Harvest Digest: October 2026, #1

Welcome back neighbors,

Our plant focus this week is a plant that I have a long professional history with but is a bit obscure out here in the southeast. #Rhododendron #VanVleckHouseandGardens #NJ #Montclair #Azalea

Today we’re going to talk about the other half of the Rhododendron family because while all true Azaleas are Rhododendrons, not all Rhododendrons are Azaleas and we’re talking about the non-Azaleas. Why are we covering these plants? Well the Southeast is the land of the Azaleas but every now and again their bigger more botanically numerous cousins poke their heads out of a hedgerow. It is perhaps a botanical irony that Azaleas get rarer the farther north you go because often they cannot handle the winter cold. Let’s start with what a Rhododendron is before we talk about the specific specimen I photographed for this article. Rhododendrons are members of the Ericaceae family which means they are related to Blueberries, Cranberries, Wintergreen and, Leucothoe, amongst many others. The name Rhododendron translated from its Greek roots comes from two words ‘rhodo’ and ‘dendron’ which mean rose and tree respectively and that name certainly fits. The most obvious difference between a Rhododendron and an Azalea is the leaves. Azaleas typically have soft somewhat fuzzy leaves that may shed in a cold winter. Rhododendrons on the other hand are broad leaf evergreens with tough leathery leaves that are elliptical shaped with a simple margin. The Rhododendron’s branching pattern is alternate and generally their flowers can have many Anthers/Stamen, Azaleas by comparison only tend to have five of those. In the specimen we’re looking at in this post; a Pontic Rhododendron has ten Anthers/Stamen which is a crucial identification trait. Just in case some of you out there are wondering what an ‘anther/stamen’ is, the Stamen is comprised of two parts. The tip of the Stamen is the Anther, and the structure attaching that to the rest of the flower is the Filament, together they make up the ‘male’ part of the flower as they produce and release pollen. In the case of Rhododendrons they normally have about ten of these. The biological reason for this is two-fold; numerous stamens ensure that pollen transfer happens, but also its redundancy in case of physical damage.The specimen pictured is known as a Pontic Rhododendron, but it is also called a Common Rhododendron. The scientific name for this plant is (Rhododendron ponticum baeticum) and it is a non-native species as it originates from Bulgaria, Lebanon and the Caucasus. The specific epithet ‘ponticum’ means ‘coming from pontus’ which is a region located on the southern shore of the Black Sea. Despite that Pontic Rhododendrons are surprisingly well-adapted to our climate and you can probably find one listed as a ‘Common Rhododendron’ at most garden centers and nurseries’. In Zone 8B, we’re roughly at the south most limits of the Pontic’s range though some sources suggest it can go all the way into Zone 9 with special care. What makes the plant special is its bloom time as it picks up after the Azealas are done. It’s normal for a Pontic to bloom between May and July, but also respond to a gentle pruning with another series of blooms as late as September. So while most things are scorched by our usual August heat, this shrub is producing some glorious color. The best part of this Rhododendron is that on average maybe six feet tall but is at its best if the prune it to four or five feet so it doesn’t get a leggy sort of appearance. Now about for that professional history I hinted at the beginning of this post? For most of a decade I worked at a botanical garden called VanVleck House and Gardens as part of the grounds crew. Here’s a link to their website: https://montclairfoundation.org/ Take a guess in that four garden plants they specialize in, Chinese Wisteria, Japanese Wisteria, Rhododendrons, and believe it or not Azaleas. Even back then, those and a few other really interesting oddities were the norm for working there. Of course they had few Pontic Rhododendrons and a Few Pontic Azaleas as well. One of their more interesting features was that they had a Southern Magnolia the specific variety was ‘Edith Bouge’ and it was a mature full-size tree that was unfortunately sterile but it also was impossibly far north and living in a strange microclimate outdoors in-ground. The point though of mentioning this, is that from there I gained a very specific set of skills in caring for our main attractions and finding a Pontic Rhododendron poking out of a shrub row was a delight.