Rhododendron 'PJM Elite'

Winner of the Rhododendron of the year Award of the American Rhododendron Society for the Mid-Atlantic, Northwest, South Central, and South East regions.

'PJM Elite' is a super cold hardy shrub that has been known to survive severe unseasonably cold bouts unfazed. This plant has a wide growing range, from the upper Midwest and New England well into the southeastern states, and it is so vigorous and tough, some say it's bulletproof.

A very reliable performer, and a highly popular evergreen, for humans as well as for hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees (but not rabbits), it produces vibrant clusters of 10 to 15 trumpet-shaped purple flowers set against glossy dark green foliage that takes on purple tinges in fall and winter. Growing up to 5 to 6 feet tall and wide, it makes a lovely flowering hedge, privacy screen, or shrub border when planted in mass, and it works well in foundation plantings. Remove spent flowers to promote new growth.