RoHo Rhododendrons = Dendrons Ro Don't

Now in my second year of an intensive landscaping effort, I can report that I've gotten very poor results from my attempts to plant rhododendrons thus far. Last spring, I lost one almost immediately. I lost two more by August:

Right now I've still got two that are hanging on, but both of them have lost major portions of themselves, as shown in this picture:

This year's crop of rhododendrons has looked mighty poor at Lowe's, so I've not found any there to give these another go. I did, however, find a beautiful nova zembla at Reynolda Nursery, and I've now got it planted in the grove. I'm going to be hopeful, especially since this was a very, very pricey plant.