Back Stoop Rhododendrons Early Fall Bud Setting - 2019

On the right is the southern Rhododendron and on the right in the image collage above is the northern stoop one.  They look different, don't they?  The one on the left is larger, taller, has less broned/curled edges.  And it also kinda looks a little brighter green, doesn't it?

They looked different last Fall, too, when I applied Wilt-Pruf to one of them as a test.  And again this Spring when they came out of Winter.  What was most interesting to me is that NEITHER of these flowered this year.  Not a single flower.  Last Summer they flowered beautiful pink flowers.  See this post for the flowers, but also note how tiny they were last year.  They're really filled in that space more this year.

They both set buds in the Fall, but just like our Flowering Cherry Tree and Saucer Magnolia in the front, we ended up with no flower show.

The hard, cold Winter - including a long Polar Vortex - is likely to blame for those buds not blooming this year.

These Rhododendrons are right back at it with setting buds this late Summer/early Fall. Below, you can see one of them that has emerged.  Last Fall they grew in size to about double this.  I'll keep an eye on them - and to see if the two different shrubs that *look* different *bud* different.