Rehoboth rhodie rises to the sky
While making minor repairs to the second floor screened porch of his Rehoboth Beach cottage, Joel Saltzman was floored by the height and glory of the year round resident.
Nestled in the side yard near an outdoor shower stands Big Bertha, a rhododendron. Saltzman thinks that it was likely planted when the home was new, perhaps in the 1930s. "I had the roof replaced a year or so ago, and the insulation was newspapers dated 1937," said Saltzman.
The base of the colossal shrub covers about 10 square feet of the yard, 20' by 20' yielding a square footage of about 360 square feet, sending a spray of branches to the second floor. Thousands of blooms burst forth long after other neighboring rhododendrons have given up. "The outdoor shower must feed it. The former owners claimed to have never used anything but Dove soap," he said.
EDITORS NOTE: Saltzman contacted us after a measurement with this correction: I did a rough tape measurement which came to at least 20' by 18', yielding a square footage at the base canopy of 360 sq. ft. Thanks Joel.
