Rhodoland Leaves and buds

One plant is not the other - they all differ from each other like we all do. The diversity is enormous.  There are evergreen azaleas with very small leaves, less than half an inch, like 'Falkenstein' or some Satsuki azaleas. And there are Rhododendron with very large leaves of about 3 feet, like the   R. sinogrande. Unfortunately they don't grow in harsh climates, but do well in some parts of the UK, including Scotland and Ireland. And in mild parts of the USA and elsewhere. Yet, in the 'Hobbiepark'  in Germany there is a R. rex of at least 20 feet high with leaves of  1 1\2 feet, and it is quite hardy too.            Not only the size differs, but also the structure, the hairs  and the indumentum. Evergreen azaleas often have hairs on the leaves - also other rhodos like  R. ciliatum. The thick (woolly) indumentum on the undersite of the leaves we call 'Indumentum', like with R. yakushimanum or R. bureavii  and others. So, it has nothing to do with a sort of mould or fungus, which some gardener tried to remove with a tooth-brush. ....It should protect the leaves from cold or heat..  There are also rhodos with leaves that turn into a nice bronze-red before they drop off, like R. mucronulatum. The same with many deciduous azaleas with fall leaves in bronze, red or yellow. And some evergreen azaleas have leaves turning to bronze-brown-red in fall and winter, especcially with sunny weather. As you see, there is so much more than flowers, that we can admire during the whole year!!

          Below I show you some images of rhododendrons and azaleas with their nice leaves or buds. Just keep the cursor on the pictures and reed my comments. I also plan to make some albums with larger pictures, so that you can see them just like you want.