I have an azalea garden in my front yard that has been there for 8 years. This year the front half of the garden bloomed. The back half did not.
I have not pruned or done anything that I can tell to hurt the back half. Can anyone give me a hint about what happened?
These are white azaleas that are probably supposed to be much larger than they are but they are under some pines and I am sure they compete for water, tho I try to give them plenty.
only half a garden
Do the plants in the back half get more shade?
They get a little more shade but no alot. There are not even buds . I had thought they might bloom late but that is not going to happen.
Do they look healthy otherwise? If they look healthy otherwise then I don't have any ideas besides the shade. Or maybe are they planted closer to a cement driveway or house foundation? Cement can leach lime and these are acid lovers, but I would think you'd see some chlorosis in the leaves before they'd get to the point of not blooming. And how have they looked in previous years? Have they always bloomed the same amount as the ones in the front and this year all of a sudden there's nothing, or have they been gradually declining in the amount of blooms for a few years?
They have bloomed like the others in the past. And, yes, they appear otherwise healthy.
This is sudden.
I have not fed them in a few years and maybe the back half is fighting the pine trees for nutrients. I just don't know.
Could be they need fertilizer, but I would think you would have seen a slow decline, or else you'd be seeing unhealthy looking leaves if that was the problem, and I would expect you'd also be seeing some decline from the ones in front. Hopefully someone else has some ideas! If you can, it might not hurt to post a picture even though you think they look OK, maybe someone might spot something you hadn't noticed that could give some clues.
Have a look at this site - on the left, click where it says "problems", then under "flowers" there's a part about failure to set buds, and another about buds failing to open.
http://rhodyman.net/rahome.html
Thanks to you both.
I went to the site and think that it was either the late frost tho I see no browned buds OR the fact that my neighbor built a 2 story garage that may shade the back section of that garden.
I will check on a sunny day.
Then what?
If it was a late frost I would have expected at least some reduction in blooms from the front row as well unless you can see something in how your yard is laid out that would suggest why the front ones would be protected from frost to such an extent that they have all their blooms and the others have none. It's not impossible, but I don't think it's that likely. The extra shade from the garage could have made a difference, if they were already in more shade to begin with if this new garage blocks a lot of the light they were getting that could be it.