Rhododendron catawbiense is a beautiful, thicket-type shrub with shiny, deep green leaves and pink/lilac or white cup-shaped flowers carried in trusses of up to 20 blooms.
It is evergreen and quite dense in its growth habit with flowers up to 5cms across that feature speckled throats.
The natural shape is broader than it is high and the leaves have silvery undersides that are covered in fine white hairs.
It makes an excellent garden feature or in amongst other shrubs in a semi-shaded location. The spring flowers are of course the main attraction but the thick foliage is a handsome backdrop for the rest of the year.
There are some hybrids coming to the market including:-
Purple Elegans',
‘Roseus Elegans’,
'Catalgla'
'Powell Glass',
'Grandiflorum'.