Azaleas are stagging a comeback from New York City to Washington. D. C. Their popularity will increase as the word spreads that these distinctive shrubs can be reliable and permanent garden assets if they are wisely chosen.
A rich, individual character is to the graceful fountains of flowers produced by azaleas. Still, many gardeners in the East reluctantly abandoned azaleas over the years because they frequently languished and often eventually died.
We know now that the first hybrids of our native West Coast azalea offered to the public were ill-suited to our hot summers, and many of the Mollis hybrids, which were sold by the millions, dwindled because they required a higher level of constant moisture than most gardeners in the East could provide.
The remainder were usually grafted plants, conspicuous in their failure to grow well here compared with azaleas on their roots.
The introduction of marvelous new azalea hybrids from abroad and the current offering of selected forms of the native species with remarkable ornamental value have revived interest. Discriminating gardeners who have rediscovered azaleas now know to insist on own-root plants.
Blooming Season For Azalea
For its early bloom season, no artificial hybrid outshines Azalea Vaseyi alba, a stunning white-flowered variety of our North Carolina species that has recently been made commercially available. Here is an azalea that bears a faultless mantle of large, sparkling white blossoms in early May.
Its flowers complement numerous wildflowers, and the plant furnishes a handsome background for them. Its leaves turn a lively crimson, an autumnal gift to the garden. Azalea Vaseyi eventually grows 12′ feet tall in an irregular, upright manner. It is hardy to 30° degrees Fahrenheit below zero, and it is unquestionably one of the most delicate flowering shrubs in existence.
The new Exbury azalea hybrids from England are among the triumphant horticultural achievements of our generation. They produce enormous, rounded rhododendron-like trusses of flowers in a color range of unparalleled brilliance and variety. Some of them are fragrant.
The fall foliage is a fanfare of gold and red. They grow to a convenient height of about 5′ feet, making them suitable for foundation planting and small gardens where many azaleas are out of scale in their mature dimensions.
Hopefully, specialists have been watching the Exbury hybrids, eager to learn how well they will grow in the eastern United States. It will be years before they are all finally evaluated, but many are promising and seem sure to find an honored place in our gardens. Their blooming season extends two months from early May onward, the majority flowering in late May.
Various Types Of Azalea
CECILE represents the Exbury hybrids at their jubilant best. The crisp flowers of squarish shape and heavy substance are an astonishing 4 1/2″ inches in diameter, formed into a large powder puff truss of appealing salmon-pink that instantly attracts the admiration of all who see it.
It is a favorite of Major Peter Barber’s at Ex-bury, of the American distributor, and mine. Best of all, it is also among the most vigorous. It gives every indication of possessing the stamina to thrive through our torrid summers and frigid winters.
Everybody likes red azaleas and ROYAL, and LODGE is another Exbury hybrid that thrives that its adaptability to our climate seems assured.
I imported my Exbury hybrids from England, and when they first blossomed, I was disappointed in them. It was not until they had been established for three full years that they developed the flower size, color intensity, and profusion of bloom that have made these superb creations of Lionel de Rothschild, a legend among collectors.
The Exbury azaleas were developed from another English strain, the Knap Hill hybrids, including several beautiful sorts. TOUCAN has given me particular pleasure, with opulent ivory blossoms emblazoned with a startling velvety golden flare on the upper petals.
It is richly scented. The venerable DAVIES! has been the best white-flowered mid-season azalea hybrid for decades. TOUCAN is infinitely superior in every way.
Planting Azalea On Spring
These azaleas appreciate some shade, providing it does not come from the limbs of trees directly overhanging them. Their flowers last longer if they have them. About two-thirds sun and one-third shade are ideal, but these selected sorts are accommodating enough to thrive under more exposure.
It pays to insist that they are adequately planted in loose, porous, acid soil enriched with hummus. Holes for young plants should be dug 20” inches in diameter and 15” inches deep from which the subsoil is discarded.
They arc then backfilled with a mixture of 50 percent topsoil and 50 percent acid peat-moss, and the azaleas arc planted in them at precisely the same level at which they grew in the nursery.
Don’t compromise with correct planting unless you garden atop a peat bog. Upon it depends on your azaleas’ health and floral display for many years to come. After they are in the ground, they should be mulched with oak leaves, pine needles, or similar loose vegetable debris.
Early spring planting is best, and they should be watered in summer if rain fails. The only additional care necessary is to renew the mulch each autumn and pick off any seed capsules which start to develop after they bloom. This ensures the entire crop of flower buds for the next big festival of blossoms.