the front of our house has "bushes" and I think they are Azaleas. but there are two different bushes with the leaves being different. We went to the east texas fair yesterday and when we walked thoruigh one of the buildings I saw some potted plans that looked like one of the bushes out front.
I took pictures today in hopes that someone can tell me if these are in fact Azaleas.
second picture
3rd picture
Those look like three different plants to me. I don't think #2 or #3 are azaleas, not sure on #1. Have you ever seen any of them bloom?
no we didn't get here till the end of July
#2 looks like an Evergreen Azalea, except the leaves seem to be opposed. All Rhododoendrons are alternate. #1 and # 3 could be true Azaleas (deciduous), but there is not enought showing.
I'll get a few more pictures of the bushes them selves not so close then to show you more of them
ok here are pictures I took this morning of the three different "bushes"
they follow the same order as the leave ones above
last one
The first one is definitely an Azalea. The others don't look like Azaleas to me. #2 may be a Boxwood of some kind.
No.2 looks like a Korean Box whereas #3 looks like a Japanese Holly or Youpon Holly
Ok so #1 yes the rest no
next question I have is #1's there is I think 3 of them they are right up by the house in among the other stuff. Is that a good place for them?
I have no idea how big the roots get I only know they do not like to share close to trees. Should I leave them there or move them more away from the foundation and the other plants
I bought two Piedmont Native Azaleas for my Wildlife Habitat, Rhododendron Canescens. In a habitat all the plants have to be native to your area. I couldn't find any of these Piedmont Azaleas locally so I bought them off of eBay, thus saying, I've never had any trouble with eBay before. These guys arrived with their leaves covered in spots. The seller posted, after the sale started, that the native azalea look ugly in the fall. But this looks like leaf spot to me, or some kind of disease. I've potted them in an isolated corner. Is anyone familiar with this? All kinds of advise wanted please.
I'm not real familiar with deciduous Azaleas, but here's a picture from yesterday of R. viscosum / Swamp Azalea that looks similar:
Was that post saying the deciduous native Azaleas look like that in the fall while getting ready to drop their leaves?
It's just for comparison - I don't know what they're supposed to look like, but that's what they look like around here now
Mibus2, the Texas Fair Grounds have an area near the Swan Boats Lagoon with lots of red/pink/white blooming deciduous azaleas. Additional shrubs can also be found elsewhere in the property. Spring is a good time to see them in bloom.
Regarding your question #2, I would not plant them close to the house because the cement leeches lime and they prefer acidic well-draining soil (but some varieties tolerate almost neutral). Their tiny fibruous roots are in the topmost 3-4" so you want to plant them about 1" higher than the soil is and you do not want to disturb the area where they grow much. That type of root is also the reason why you want to mulch them heavily here in Texas: the topmost few inches of soil will dry out quickly in the summer heat. I have some azaleas about 1 foot away minimum from the house walls and still add some garden sulphur along with cottonseed meal in March to keep the soil somewhat acidic. Of course, now is not the time to feed them anything as they should be going dormant soon. Note that you may need to replace some of your soil by well draining non-clayish soil; alternatively you can use raised beds with zero clayish soil.
Luis
Hello, Dahlrose. The Piedmont Azalea is suffering from leaf spot. Some forms of leaf spot can be normal in some varieties but not this one. Virus and fungi are the most common causes. Based on your description of the origin of this plant, I suspect that the seller had them in a very humid environment that caused the fungi to develop as much as you can see. These infestations stop when the weather changes and becomes drier but this is a big infestation so: (1) water only when the soil feels almost dry; water in the mornings only and water the soil, not the leaves (2) allow for good ventilation around the plant (3) pick up any debris that falls on the soil and throw it on the trash, not the compost bin (4) replace the mulch (if any, I could not tell), (5) spray with a fungicide like Benomyl. I could have said not to bother applying fungicides this late in the season but the infestation is high and will return next year. Good luck, Luis
Thanks Luis!!!
so I need to move them since they are up next to the house the spot I am thinking though has a pine tree and an American holly in a raised bed box. would it be okay to move them to that raised bed under those trees.
That way they would not be disturbed (and since it is a raised bed hubby wouldn't' be bothering them mowing)
They would get morning sun then be shaded the rest of the day plus there would be the pine needles that I can use as a mulch that would help with the acidic soil
Yes, you could move them under the trees listed provided that the azaleas still get some sunlight (4hrs or less is optimum). The only exceptions dealing with planting azaleas under trees are Walnut trees and Butternut trees. Those two trees generate juglone, a toxic substance that can kill the plants within one-to-two months; if thinking about planting azaleas near these two types of trees, place them in a zone away from an 80-feet radius from the trunk.
Thank you Thank you for your help they will get morning sun till almost noon where I mentioned above so that will work out good for a move. Only one of them looked to be happy where it was the other 3 had branches but very few leaves to them so hopefully this will help them do better.
Thank You Luis,
I have a number of options open at this point. I am very upset that someone would ship a diseased plant and expect it to be accepted. Lots of us newbys out there I guess. I am thinking of shipping both back to the nursery that sent them and wish them well of them. I contacted my Ag Extension agent and he confirmed the Leaf Spot diagnosis also. I wonder what a comment of Leaf Spot on the eBay sellers feedback would do to their sales? Thank You again Luis!
You might try contacting the seller nicely and explaining the problem, if they're a good seller then they will try to make things right for you (unless you've had the plant for months now, then it's going to be harder to get them to accept responsibility). Not everyone selling plants on eBay is an expert on plants, things like this leaf spot disease don't generally kill the plant and they tend to come back every year, so it's possible they did think that's how they're normally supposed to look in the fall.
