{"id":3507,"date":"2015-03-07T00:37:13","date_gmt":"2015-03-07T07:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3507"},"modified":"2015-03-02T08:38:30","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T15:38:30","slug":"azalea-growing-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/gardening\/tips\/azalea-growing-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Grow Bright Azaleas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A lazier shrub with exciting blossom I have yet to find.<br \/>\n<a title=\"Azalea by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/6992177934\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7206\/6992177934_46473bf1bf.jpg\" alt=\"Azalea\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>How do you tell an <strong>Azalea from a Rhododendron?<\/strong> Most Azaleas have only 5 or 6 stamen while most rhododendrons have 10 stamen. Azalea leaves tend to be thinner, softer and more pointed than rhododendron leaves.<br \/>\nIn a subjective way I think Azaleas produce more flower cover per plant.<\/p>\n<h2>Tips for Growing Azaleas<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Azaleas are relatively pest-free\u00c2\u00a0 and easy to grow plants but may need a fungal spray if leaves are attacked in spring.<\/li>\n<li>Azaleas like some shade\u00c2\u00a0 but deciduous varieties do well in full sun. Sun can produce more compact plants with more blooms but not as long lasting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/tips\/azalea-growing-tips\/attachment\/azalea-yellow\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3511\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3511\" title=\"azalea-yellow\" src=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/azalea-yellow.jpg\" alt=\"azalea-yellow\" width=\"448\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/azalea-yellow.jpg 448w, https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/azalea-yellow-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Azalea like a slightly acid soil such as that found under oak and pine trees. A mulch of pine bark,\u00c2\u00a0 needles or wood chips helps to keep moisture in the ground and suppress weeds.<\/li>\n<li>Azaleas do not like &#8220;wet feet&#8221; but need moisture too help to produce more flower buds for next year. So give plants a good soaking everynow and then after flowering.<\/li>\n<li>Good drainage can be provided by planting Azaleas with the tops of their root balls a few inches above ground level and mounding the soil up to the plants. Do not plant too deep.<\/li>\n<li>Established Azaleas do not need fertilizer that only encourages unproductive lush growth.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid pruning but shorten long slender stems with no side shoots and cut out dead wood\u00c2\u00a0 at any time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<a title=\"Newby Hall gardens Azalea by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/7266644490\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7094\/7266644490_f9a605f202.jpg\" alt=\"Newby Hall gardens Azalea\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.azaleas.org\/\">The Azalea Society <\/a>of America has a good photographic collection.<\/p>\n<p>Read more on<a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/flowers\/trees-and-shrubs\/blazing-deciduous-azaleas\/\"> Blazing Azaleas<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=13397\">Growing Deciduous Azaleas in the UK<\/a><br \/>\nIf I were to choose one variety of Azalea it would come from the Knaphill hybrids of the 1960&#8217;s. They are well worth seeking out.<br \/>\nPlants on show at the National collection in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ngs.org.uk\/gardens\/gardenfinder\/garden.aspx?id=14861\">Sherwood Gardens Exeter<\/a> include<br \/>\n1. Azalea &#8216;Barbecue&#8217;<br \/>\n2. Azalea &#8216;Bright Forecast&#8217;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/tips\/azalea-growing-tips\/attachment\/azalea-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3508\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3508\" title=\"azalea\" src=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/azalea.jpg\" alt=\"azalea\" width=\"336\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/azalea.jpg 336w, https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/azalea-224x300.jpg 224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n3. Buzzard and Occidentals<br \/>\n4. Azalea &#8216;Buzzard&#8217;<br \/>\n5. Azalea &#8216;Calico&#8217;<br \/>\n6. Azalea &#8216;Chelsea Reach&#8217;<br \/>\n7. Azalea &#8216;Crocea Tricolor&#8217;<br \/>\n8. Azalea &#8216;Daviesii&#8217;<br \/>\n9. Azalea &#8216;Double Damask&#8217;<br \/>\n10. Azalea &#8216;Drury Lane&#8217;<br \/>\n<a title=\"Azaleas by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/5493517415\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5057\/5493517415_a28599b84c.jpg\" alt=\"Azaleas\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n11. Azalea &#8216;Gibralter&#8217;<br \/>\n12. Azalea &#8216;Golden Oriole&#8217;<br \/>\n13. Azalea &#8216;Harvest Moon&#8217;<br \/>\n14. Azalea &#8216;Homebush&#8217;<br \/>\n15. Azalea &#8216;Irene Koster&#8217;<br \/>\n16. Azalea &#8216;Jack Brunell&#8217;<br \/>\n17. Azalea &#8216;Knaphill Apricot&#8217;<br \/>\n18. Azalea &#8216;Knaphill Red&#8217;<br \/>\n19. Azalea &#8216;Knaphill White&#8217;<br \/>\n20. Azalea &#8216;Occidentale White&#8217;<br \/>\n21. Azalea atlanticum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Azaleas are relatively pest-free  and easy to grow plants but may need a fungal spray if leaves are attacked in spring<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,260,233,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trees-and-shrubs","category-rhododendron","category-growing-easy-plants","category-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}