Rhododendron Hedging (Bets)

We have at least 7 rhododendron plants in our yard.  They vary in color and variety.  Unfortunately I have not yet learned enough about them to know what varieties they are.  They were all here when we moved in and one of them even looks like it may be a "wild" variety (Pacific rhododendron [Rhododendron macrophyllum]) as it is at the edge of the wooded area of the property on the "other" side of the stream.  The "wild" one has never bloomed, so I can't say for sure.

There is one, however, which is the first to bloom every year without fail. 

This is a very large rhodie that is located in the north east corner of the property.  It is flanked on either side by laurel bushes which are also large and bully and crowd the rhodie a bit.  It is on the edge of the wooded strip of land between us and our nearest neighbors and it gets LOTS of afternoon sun on its western side.

When I say it blooms first and early, it usually has its blooms open in March or early April, whereas the rest of the rhodies wait until late April or May to show their colors.  This year - mild winter it has been - this plant had her blooms open in DECEMBER.  My daughter noticed it during the week after Christmas.
 
Unfortunately, we then had two weeks of frost in January, so the blooms have received some serious frost damage.

When I went to examine the blooms, however, I noticed something interesting.  There were 3 different stages of bloom on the bush:  Fully open, and now brown and crispy; partly open, brown-tipped, but possibly not all lost; and quite healthy-looking tiny unopened buds. 


Brown frost damaged blooms.  They used to be pink.

Partly opened bloom with some frost damage.

Unopened blooms.

We talk a lot in the Northwest about microclimates.  The weather forecasters say it is impossible to predict the weather for the Puget Sound area with any degree of accuracy because of all the microclimates around the Sound.  I find the same thing in my garden:  certain areas are warmer than others, receive different amounts of sun and rain, are slightly different elevations (the northeast corner of the property is 50 feet higher than the southwest corner), etc.

So were the blooms on this plant simply responding to the microclimate on their particular part of the branch... or was the plant "hedging" her bets?

Links of interest:
Western North American Rhododendron Species Project
Rhododendron Species Garden Botanical Garden