Advantages & Disadvantages of Azaleas

All Season Plant

• The azalea is a plant that adds color to your lawn and garden all year. The evergreen varieties add a lush green color to your winter landscaping. Both the deciduous and evergreen varieties provide attractive blossom colors during the spring. The deciduous varieties provide bright color in autumn.

Bloom Size and Color

• One advantage to the azalea plant is that it has many bloom sizes and colors. The plant with the smallest bloom is the R. serpyllifolium with 1/2 inch blooms. Other plants have flowers that are 2 to 3 inches in size, and the largest blooms appear on the Higasa. Deciduous azaleas have pink, purple, red, white, orange and yellow flowers. Evergreen azaleas do not have yellow blooms but are available in various shades of purple, pink, red, white and reddish-orange.

Require Weather Protection

• Azaleas grow best in humid, mild climates. Winds can dry them out and split the bark or result in leaf scorch. Protect them from wind damage by planting them on a slope or near buildings. Discarded Christmas trees make an effective winter covering for the shrubs.

Sun Tolerance

• Azaleas thrive in areas with filtered sunlight or morning sun with afternoon shade. Shrubs, screens and fences protect them from harsh afternoon sunlight. Some deciduous varieties are less sensitive to sunlight, but the afternoon sun may still bleach the bloom color.

Disease

• Although azaleas are rarely bothered with pests, they are prone to disease. Freezing and quick changes in temperatures may result in stem bark splitting. This may kill the plant after a year or two, since the plant does not recover well from the injuries. Soils that are not acidic enough, conditions that cause stem or root injury, nematodes or poor soil drainage can cause iron chlorosis. Add 1/8 cup of iron sulfate to the soil for every 10 square feet to control the chlorosis.