'White Peter' has very nice flowers of white with a maroon blotch, somewhat like 'Sappho' or 'Calsap,' but 'White Peter' has been rated to be hardy to -25F, and I have even seen one source claim it's "hardy to -40F." I've had no problems with winter hardiness, but my plant sits under a dying blue spruce which drips sap, and also supplies my plant with abundant inchworms who eat up the flowers and new foliage very quickly. I plan on moving my 'White Peter' to a place with less protection from overhead trees, and less exposure to inchworms.

I bought this plant in Fall, 1998, at Westcroft Gardens, on Grosse Isle. Westcroft gardens specializes in rhododendrons and azaleas, and has for over 75 years, since Ernest Stanton converted his family farm from a hay farm. This farm is the oldest Michigan Centennial Farm, in the same family since 1776. That's right, they bought the entire Grosse Isle from the Potawatomi tribe in 1776, and they still have the farm! This really is a great place to go.

Parentage: 'Blue Peter' selfed

Hybridizer: Dr. Gustav A. L. Mehlquist, University of Connecticut, 1962.

Introduced: University of Connecticut, Plant Science Department, Storrs, CT.

Registered: Dr. Mark H. Brand, University of Connecticut, 1990.