Calsap Rhododendron: These photos were taken in May 2010, in its first season and a month after being planted in what I believed was the perfect spot in my front landscape. It was before some unidentified bug or other 6+ legged thing(s) started to eat away at its tender young leaves as summer wore on. Ultimately, I beat the little suckers and going into the fall, the Calsap had nicely recovered. Hah - take THAT you bugs! But then came the deer... who ravaged it though the 3+ foot deep blanket of snow that covered everything for most of this past winter. They nibbled away practically every bit of green on this poor plant. In April, I dug up my weary looking, beaten-up Rhodie and relocated her to the backyard. She'll be protected from deer, but I can't promise her safety from bugs. But at least she's got a fighting chance. And she has proven to be a fighter... she withstood her first year with the evil mystery insects, the starving scavenger deer and the "ice age" (New England Winter of 2010/2011)... because now she is sprouting new leaves like you couldn't imagine. I know I won't see her amazing trusses this spring... but it's OK -- she'll be a show-stopper next spring!!!
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