Imagine: Yes indeed. Imagine a plant that looks fantastic in the garden center when it’s fresh from the grower. But that plant is out for just one thing: to break your heart.
Normally I post a “I Love This Plant!” every Saturday. Today, I’m not in love. After eight years of heartbreak, I’m talking about the ‘Blue Baron’ honestly…a few days before I rip it out of my garden and toss it into the compost pile.
Name: Rhododendron ‘Blue Baron’ aka Rhododendron prettypathetica
Type of Plant: A blue flowering Rhododendron, said to be compact in habit. Wow! Why don’t we see this plant in every foundation planting? The flower color is amazing, and the photos we find online make the plant look like a low, full shrub filled with blue-purple flowers in the spring.
Why I hate this: The only time this plant will flower well for you is when it’s fresh from the nursery. So be sure to buy one that’s in bud not full bloom, so you can enjoy it in flower for at least three weeks. Even when it lives through the winter, it often doesn’t flower because in cold winters the buds get zapped. The foliage is often killed off as well, so that over time these plants get asymmetrical, thin and sad.
A Word to the Wise: If you don’t see a plant doing well in other people’s yards, yet it looks good in the nursery, you have to ask yourself why. “Why does this look great in the garden center every year but I never see it looking great in other’s gardens?”
This is the first time in EIGHT YEARS that my Rhododendron ‘Blue Baron’ bloomed. And this is as good as it gets. Yup…Rhododendron prettypathetica
Thank you, I had the same experience but I pulled it out after 4 years of disappointment. I thought it was me…you are right they look gorgeous in the nursery… Instead I am buying more Virginia bluebells…they don’t disappoint!
Thanks, Judy! It’s been my experience that the ONLY people who love this plant are those who see it in the nurseries but never grow it themselves. This is like deciding you love a plant based on a description in a book, but no personal experience.
Are you all aware that Blue Baron MUST be planted in soil that is acidic… and it is quite unlikely that any of you reporting ‘failure’ have acidic soil! There should have been an ‘acidic product worked into a lot of the soil before planting. And the photo shown shows a Rhody that should have had regular pruning. It is very scraggly … but most likely from improper soil.
CJ – I live in a place where we have naturally acidic soils. Most Rhododendrons THRIVE on my property. We don’t have to “make our soil very acidic” because it already is. This plant just doesn’t have great genetics, and I’m not the first to say so.
Same. I just bought my third one. I buy them every couple of years because I love the flower color so much. They always die. Well, people buy cut flowers all the time, and they’re technically already dead, so I look at this sort of plant purchase as the same kind of thing. To be enjoyed while flowering.
Though, I will plant it and hope, without much hope, that this one will survive and bloom again. I actually would be thrilled if any of mine had bloomed as much as the one in your pic. It looks light and airy. Very pretty, really.
I’m in complete favor of buying a plant just for the enjoyment you’ll get from it in one year. Many times we spend far more on a dinner out that only lasts two or three hours, right? So by all means, enjoy Blue Baron on a one-shot basis. I love seeing it in bloom at the garden center – what a color! What a disappointment! Even people who live where it’s warmer say that this plant isn’t reliable for them. Bad genetics. Sigh.
Bad genes in anything takes a toll. Love them for what they are. But, very good to know when planning a landscape using them.
Same here☹️ I bought one in May and it looked so healthy, but now it is drying up and wilted. So disappointed. I wish I had read the reviews before I purchased
sarah, your attitude is exactly mine for other plants that, after gardening for 40 years in z.5, i have continued to fail with but i love them so, w/hope that they succeed 20% of the time:.
daphne carol mackie, var. aralia, , peucedanum, ajuga crispa [var.],, echinacea,………
There are many plants that just don’t thrive in most regions. Agreed on Daphne ‘Carol Mackie’ (note: Daphne ‘Summer Ice’ lasted far longer in my garden and is a superior plant. Why is THAT one not grown widely???) To be a garden geek is to walk the line between going with what you know works and will live, and trying new plants in case they might succeed. Because every gardener knows that occasionally plants thrive against all odds and advice.
That is a WONDERFUL and HEALTHY (even if the plant isn’t) way to look at it!
Did you make the soil very acidic before you planted it?
I’ll take it. LOL
So you’ll take it as a non-flowering, sparse disappointment that adds nothing to your garden? You’re welcome to it!
I concur regarding this plant. I tried growing it in southern Ontario, zone 6. I killed two of them and I am an experienced rhodo grower. I talked to a friend, who ran a rhododendron nursery and he agreed that it does poorly in zone 6,
He too had little success with it. Well I moved to Vancouver Island, and am again trying this plant, but in a much warmer zone. It is a beautiful plant for those who can grow it, wish me luck.
I think the real name is badness gardnerii. This variety requires care and placement that it is obviously no getting.
That’s right, Pruner, it requires placement in a garden that’s not in the Northeast. It does not live here – and why are you being so snotty about this?
Thank for the post, I was going to buy one… it looks too good to be true
any recomendations for a hardier blue/puprle Rhodie?
Thanks
David
David,
I don’t know of any hardy variety that has such blue flowers. There are many hardy purple varieties, such as Lee’s Dark Purple. The world is still waiting for a blue rhody that is a strong, hardy plant, especially in the Northeast.
It does fine in coastal Nova Scotia. Given the parentage it does not do well in hot summer areas and should not be sold there. A fine & spectacular plant! Noi blue like it in adwarf rhododendron.
John,
Glad it does well for you. We do not have hot summers where we are and these do not live very long. Yes, no blue like it…but not dependable long term for us.
can the bush be covered in winter?
Covering doesn’t help.
Ours just arrived, having been ordered by my husband specially for the perfect spot in our yard. I read your post, then told him “keep the receipt” ….. I guess we’ll see how it goes. Very very glad for the advanced notice that this one likely will underperform and truly appreciative of your sense of humor (“Rhododendron prettypathetica” is hilarious!)
Let me know in two years what you think! May The Force be with you!
OK….So It’s A REALLY Bad Choice It Seems 🙁
Are There Any Other “Rhododendron Varieties” Which Are Same Beautiful “Blue” Color??
Lyndon,
Unfortunately, no. There’s a reason that when you drive around in the spring you don’t see Rhododendrons in bloom with this beautiful blue color. Sigh.
In New Jersey & 1 year old. Lots of new green growth but no flowers. Guess I’m doomed.
Tanya,
Stick with it for another year or two…this plant must do well somewhere! Or not. I’ve never seen a photo of a planting that is blooming well after being in the landscape for more than 4 years. But we can remain optimistic…until we yank them out and plant something else.
I just bought 3 of them to put around my stump garden and 2 sappho to put in the center Im in a zone 5 up here in the pacific north west property surrounded by tall cedars , so sun exposure is no problem .
But am I going to face trouble keepinv this plant hardy and blooming ?
You might have problems, especially if you’re in Zone 5. We can’t get them to bloom reliably in a warm Zone 6!
Have you tried pruning the dang thing? Sometimes a ‘Come to Jesus’ pruning, (or even yank it out and put it on the dump pile – worked for me with a ‘Sangu Kaku Japnese maple!) does the trick. You know the growers meatball rhodies, right? That and hopping them up on fert….
Hey, Karen! I love this comment – you’re a plant geek with attitude, and I appreciate that. In fact, if this is your normal personal voice, you should consider being a professional garden communicator. I kid you not. If you want to chat about this, contact me by email. We can talk.
I second the aggressive pruning to encourage denser growth. It may not be getting enough sun, however. Rhodies get leggy as they reach for light in too much shade. I am in zone 8b where my Blue Baron gets dappled morning sun and full afternoon shade. It’s form is compact and blooms are profuse. I would also recommend mulching with conifer chips or pine straw since rhodies need acidic soil to thrive.
Cheers!
I appreciate the suggestions but pruning won’t solve the issue for me, in a warm zone 6. In colder areas this plant doesn’t flower. No amount of pruning can make up for winter temperatures that kill the buds.
I’m glad to not be alone on this! I’m ripping mine out this year too. I had such high hopes but it only looked good the very first year.
Thank you all. Im on my second one, and this year it is going to compost(((
After reading all the comments and your article…I think this is what I’ll do… I’ll keep it in the same pot and rest it right by my patio, enjoy the flower and foliage. And bring it in when the weather gets cold, and out in spring again. What do you think of that? Treat it like a tropical plant.
I’ve never done it but it’s worth a shot. But instead of treating it like a tropical, treat it like a marginally hardy shrub…meaning that you’ll wait until into the fall to bring it in. Let it go through light frosts but bring it in before below-freezing temps last through the day.
I got one from Sky Nursery in Seattle Area in late May of 2020 after it bloomed and was on sale, like for half the price. I basically ignored it, left it in the original pot, and even didn’t water it much, because I was kinda busy and lazy and just set up sprinkler. It survived several snow storms and frost here in Woodinville, WA, It bloomed fully this year (2021 May) in the same pot, though lacking water, the flowers were small. Yesterday, I just planted it along with other well-grown rhododendrons, in hope it would enjoy a better environment.
Purchase a beautiful specimen from our high end nursery this spring . By this summer the entire plant was dead as a door knob, lol. I live in Zone 8 , have numerous Rhododendrons in my gardens and hybridize Japanese Maples have Patented,” King’s Blood”. That said I grow over hundreds varies of plants, shrubs and trees. Blue Baron is by far the most difficult , lousy Rhododendron I have ever tried to grow . It is a premadonna heart breaker , not worthy of the obvious diva care it demands to flourish outside greenhouse care.
It’s not the plant,judging by the two pictures above it is planted too deep that is why it is not thriving. And yes a good prunning is key to keep nice & full ,but it has to be planted properly to achieve the goal. Needs to be slightly elevated above the ground level then taper the soil down & taper the mulch also like a pitchers mound. Water deeply ,but infrequently just the first 2 weeks or depending on rainfall
Thanks for your opinion, Laura, but I still think it’s the plant. Mine was not planted too deeply (all times I’ve tried growing it!). I have worked at a garden center for 25 years and am well aware of how to keep a plant alive. This plant doesn’t live in my area.
A Friend brought Me a Nice looking plant in the Spring.
I was Happy with it and used the pollen to put on one of our Blue seedlings and the crosses took well.
After I used it I wanted to put it in the Garden only to find it had no roots to speak off and died there a week later.
I had the Plant in a different Region before moving to N.S. where it was not Happy either
Thank you for your input. I just wish I came across this article before I bought 4 of them that will be arriving soon. 🙁
Just a thought – have you tried grafting it when still healthy to a hardier, more vital variety?
I don’t like this plant enough to try grafting, but if you do it, I wish you good luck