You could always try something that is slow release like Hollytone.

I don't think its too late... although I don't know about the slow release fertilizer. It seems to me it would still be 'feeding' the rhodies right up to frost, and that can't be a good thing. I just put my last application of fertilizer on the roses yesterday - they're starting to bud up for their second flush of bloom. I always try to make sure to quit fertilizing shrubs no less than 8 weeks to frost and that works for me.

Thanks for the responses. I'll feed the shrubs this weekend. I actually think I used Hollytone three years ago when I planted them (right after blooming season), and they really flourished the next year. I didn't fertilize at all last year, and the rhodies didn't do so well this year... sigh...

floragal - even though the top of the plant might be dormant, the roots are still growing up until the soil chills. Also in fall, the longer daylength and cooler temperatures slow grow of evergreens in general. The slow release type fertilizers like Hollytone are usually low NPK and are in a form that require some biological organisms in the soil to digest and release the actives and those microorganisms tend to slow down or go dormant in fall. However with the material in the soil, once the conditions are right in spring, they become available for the plant immediately as it is coming out of dormancy.

Thanks, jenny, I never looked at it that way. I DO throw fertilizer on my bulbs when planting them in the fall, so I can see the logic.