also mentioning that I did absolutely nothing special to care for them..just watered them regularly this season and never did feed anything.

I also have buds on mine...I'm pretty sure they aren't leaf buds. They are suppose to be spring bloomers, but I'm wondering if the late frost/freeze affected their bloom time.

Rhododendrons sometimes rebloom. Reasons are usually weather-related. Reblooming often follows a period of stress, such as heavy rain and cool temperatures after a drought, although it happens occasionally even when growing conditions are good.

There are several red that I see reblooming most years locally and at the beach....I don't know if it's a particular characteristic of this red, or, if because they are red, they are more noticeable from the street/highway :)

well, it's been a weird summer...
and while it was in the process of blooming, I took pictures of it.
it's been a strange month of August, while we usually have the heat of the summer, it's been rather mild, with a few 80-90 degree days.

last night it was thunder and crashing lightning, followed by torential rain.
I figured it would be ruined, so I went out with a camera and got a wonderful picture of a blooming pale salmon rhody..intack, with no signs of blemishes on it.

I would say that this one is going to be a survivor for sure.
I'm in the Olympia area, a few miles from the water and in a rather protected area, from harsh weather.
I think I need to find an appropriate spot in the yard to get this one planted this fall.

oh man...out in the yard, is a second one..same color, also in the early stage of sending out a blossom.
so, I drug it close to the other one and now they are sitting there, side by side..just looking very healthy.

I have one large one, called "Mikkeli"..it's a rather new one from the Netherlands.
my oldest daughter used to work in a nursery that grew them and she named her daughter's middle name after this rhody.
that one has new buds but not showing signs of blooming..it's going to wait till the proper time.

Sasha Mikkeli...kindof a catchy name.

That is a pretty name. Clearly, people do name their rhododendron crosses after their children, not so often - their children after rhododendrons :)

Elizabeth and Elizabeth Hobbie are red Rhodies that rebloom rather reliably in the Fall in our area.