I would not cut back the branches. Leaf drop during times of extreme anything is absolutely normal for plants. During seasons of excess heat and drought almost any plant will shed leaves in order to preserve water resources.

BUT...the fallen foliage does not mean that those branches are dead! You'll have to wait to find that out, but I doubt it very much. Your plants should recover in their own sweet time, though they may wait until the spring to flush out with some new leaves. Of course, you can take a clean pruner to the tips of some of those branches to see if they are dead or alive. I'd wait a while for that, though.

If you are afraid that you might be over watering, is it for good reason? Does your soil drain slowly?

Watering Daily is over-watering. I am in Pennsylvania with the same problem. I haven't watered my old established plants. I keep my eyes on them, but they seem to be coping. My newly planted rhododendrons do show symptoms of a problem. When I first see symptoms in the early morning, I water deeply. I water all of the new plants but wait about a week before even thinking of watering again. I have the intent of weening them off watering, but still don't want them to die the first year.

Out of 30 new rhododendron plants I planted this year (after putting in a deer fence) I lost one. I don't know why. I dug it up and looked at it carefully and could find nothing wrong with the roots. It did not respond to watering, so I pulled it up and destroyed it in case it was diseased. The new growth had wilted first and the old growth was beginning to wilt. Watering didn't change anything. That is not normal. The root mass was uniformly moist but not wet. The soil was uniformly moist but not wet. It was well drained. There were no walnut roots. The only thing I could figure out was that it was diseased. Hence I destroyed it.

If you walk through any commercial nursery, you will see that a small percentage of their young plants get diseased and die. They pull them as soon as they see them. The same thing can happen in our gardens.

Been a tough summer. I'm in PA also. Bucks. Lost a few newly planted, but might have been because I overlooked them, not sure. Lost trude webster, two landmarks, scintillation badly damaged, starry night dead

Grow a lot of deciduous azaleas in full sun. They weren't too happy but look OK. Will survive.

Have a bruce brechtbill in full sun; took a beating. I'll be moving it to shade this week.

I collect strig hybrids. Fully expected these to be the first to show stress and damage. Didn't happen. However, I do have them in great locations. Wouldn't recommend these for the heat except taurus, grace seabrook, and harold amateis (if one is lucky enough to find it). If you are willing to gamble, like me, the other strig hybrids are also fantastic in flower, especially malahat, etta burrows, and double winner. I presently have 17 strig hybrids growing in my PA garden.

Also collect hybrids of Jean Marie deMontague: heatwave, johny bender, halfdan lem; Have them in half to three quarters day sun. They all look fine.

I'm beginning to like the Jean Marie hybrids more and more in my area. Tolerant of heat, bloom young. I just make sure I site them with good winter wind protection, otherwise they all get leaf burn here.

I have a Jean Marie in the Reading, PA area. The leaves always look horrible due to direct sun and wind, but the flowers always come through. It is growing among some Junipers, so the foliage isn't too noticeable. It looks like the junipers are blooming in the spring.

Hi rhodyman,

I find Jean Marie to be something of an enigma. When I was living on Long Island, for many years it seemed like the only red the nursery's carried was Jean Marie. Yet, in Spring, when I would drive around looking at gardens, I think I only saw a handful. I think it really dislikes the winter winds in our zones. I finally found a nice little microclimate for mine, and it has done well for six years.
On the other hand, it makes a great parent. I forgot to mention Taurus as an offspring of Jean Marie. I have a beauty, six footer, in full sun, gets some winter wind. Has never browned a leaf or lost a bud. I think it's hardier than rated. The late Hank Schannen told me it is proving to be one of the best for heat tolerance. And I can't forget Solidarity. No problem with heat for this one either.

I'll probably always grow Jean Marie; it's one of those plants that's been a part of my gardening history for a long time.

On a different note, just sent in my application for the Valley Forge Chapter. I say this because I see you are from Reading area.

My strig hybrids have done surprisingly well in the heat and dryness. For example, I have a 'Cinquero' that has been in the ground for one year. I haven't had to water it. It is in a good spot though, morning sun until about 11am then shade for the rest of the day. A smaller 'Grace Seabrook' planted at the same time has become well established with only minimal supplemental watering. Clearly R. strigillosum doesn't impart a particular sensitivity to heat to its offspring.

I've lost a few plants though. 'Kaye Player' was planted in 3/4 sun - which I knew was pushing it - and appears to be near death. Still has green buds though, so I'm going to leave it until next spring. Also lost a 'Slam Dunk' that was probably in a bit too much sun. It had been there a couple years but had never fully established itself.

Hi davidrt28,

I've had a similar experience with strigillosum hybrids in regards that it appears that strig is not dominant in imparting heat intolerance. I've been unable to grow the species, although I'll try again, fool that I am. I'm pushing the heat limits: I have a Double Winner in midday sun which has done fine, except for some scalding. I have Taurus in full sun, no scalding for six years.

The Rhododendron 'Cinquero' appears very similar to one that I have called Mountain Majesty. I have four of the yakxstrig that I got from Rare Find about five years ago. One blooms every year. The three that I have had for five years have never bloomed, although they are planted together in full sun. Foliage is fantastic.

I have Malahat, another strig hybrid that I am very happy with. Bud well every year. Loses about 30% of its buds each winter, but the color is so intense that it really doesn't matter.

Strig does seem to impart it's shy blooming juvenile stage, unfortunatly, which is why I'm taking a closer look at Malahat. And Red Majesty. I have a nice specimen next to my shed, great wind protection, about five feet tall, loaded with buds. Did great in the heat this year. However, it's rated 10 degrees. It remains to be seen if I lose all buds.