Dandy Man Color Wheel Rhododendron

Light Needs

Partial Sun to Full Sun

(At Least 5 Hours of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

4-8 Feet

Mature Spread

4-8 Feet

Growing Zones

5 to 9

If you can’t decide what color of rhododendron to plant, this one solves your problem. The flower buds emerge bright red in spring, then open to reveal soft pink interiors with deeper pink undersides. As the flowers enlarge and age, they turn pure white. Once the plant really gets blooming at the height of spring, you will see all four shades at once, making for a colorful display. In all the other seasons, the foliage carries the show with its deep, lustrous green hue.

This is a robust, disease-resistant shrub, reaching 4-8 feet tall and wide. Its’ evergreen nature makes it especially useful as a screen or as a foundation planting where its potential size will not impede entryways or windows. It is also terrific as a mass planting along a property edge or to partition different areas of your garden. Makes a wonderful companion to a host of other shrubs including azaleas, camellias, gardenias, hydrangeas and viburnum. You can also use it as a backdrop to a three-season blooming perennial border featuring daylilies, coral bells (Heuchera), false indigo (Baptisia), ferns, phlox, bee balm (Monarda) and Japanese anemone.

Dandy Man Color Wheel Rhododendron Care

Rhododendrons appreciate well-draining, acidic soil. If you are unsure if your soil drains well, dig a hole and pour in a bucket of water. If there is still water in the hole after an hour, your soil does not drain well. Soil acidity can be determined with a soil test from your local extension office. To plant your rhododendron, dig a hole as deep as the root ball and twice as wide. Put a little soil back in the base of the hole so the plant sits an inch or two higher than it was in the pot. Back-fill with the native soil then water well. Continue watering the first year when rainfall is scarce—less than one inch per week. You can also apply a two-inch layer of shredded bark mulch around the base of the plant to help conserve water, cool the roots and suppress weeds. Fertilize in spring with a granular slow-release product that is labeled for acid-loving plants. When sited where they won’t outgrow their space, rhododendrons require minimal trimming. They bloom on old wood, meaning if you do need to trim any branches, you should do so immediately after flowering, otherwise you will remove next year’s flower buds.

Dandy Man Color Wheel Rhododendron Spacing

This rhododendron’s variable size—4-8 feet tall and wide, means it is important to site it carefully. Give it enough room in case you provide the optimal conditions for it to reach that full 8x8-foot size, and be mindful of how close you place it to doors, windows and walkways so you don’t have to keep trimming it to keep it in bounds. If you want a filled-in look sooner, you can fill the space around it with annuals or a groundcover. When planting two or more Dandy Man Color Wheel rhododendrons, space them 4-8 feet center-on-center.