The first rock gardens were rather unsophisticated, there was little attempt to arrange the rocks in a naturalistic manner. By the late nineteenth century, designers were arranging rocks to look like natural outcroppings. The fashion for rock gardens reached its peak during the 1920s and they have remained popular, especially where large rocks are used to retain banks. Most, but not all dwarf rhododendrons are true alpines which grow in large colonies above the treeline. The word dwarf is a bit deceptive.
Alpine rhododendrons can be tricky to grow in lowland gardens.
They prefer full sun, but sun which is usually filtered through cool mists. In most of the United States, alpine rhododendrons prefer a bit of shade. Shade protects them from heat and strong sunlight, but it also makes them less compact and they won t bloom as heavily as they do in full sun. The trick with all rhododendrons is to give them as much sunlight as the leaves will take. Too much sun scorches the leaves, too little reduces the number of blooms.