I recently purchased a "Nova Zembla," thinking I would put it in a certain spot in my garden. Apparently, I misjudged how much light that particular area gets. It's mostly shade, with maybe an hour of early morning sun, and then maybe 45 minutes to an hour (at most) of dappled late afternoon (setting) sun. Is this enough light?
Rhodie "Nova Zembla", How Much Light?
Difficult to say; with some exceptions, two hours total of sun would the lower limit for azaleas and rhodies if I do not want to impact bloomage.
Usually, dense shade produces a tall spindly plant with no (or few) flowers but then again, not all shade is created equal. You can have the shrub in shade and it will do fine if it is exposed to indirect light. Some people call it bright shade.
You could experiment by growing it in a container until next year and observe how flower production goes in 2012. If all goes well, plant it after it finishes blooming in 2012. If not, move the container to another location and plant it when you isolate a good spot.
I had no idea I could plant it in a container. Will it get through the winter in a container?
I have several container rhododendrons that make it fine through the winter. You're a little warmer in the winter there. I don't think you should have any problems. NZ is rated to withstand -25.
OTOH, rhodies are very easy to transplant so you could go ahead and plant and move later if the location is not to its liking.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I ended up finding a different spot in my yard for it. The new spot gets shade for most of the morning, then dappled sun/shade until the sun starts setting, then gets direct setting sun for about an hour or so. So far, it seems to be doing well there. Time will tell!
Good luck. :-)