I've had this for over 15 years. The name is long forgotton. Last year the late spring freeze killed every flower bud. This year's a payback. Any one know what it is? It is evergreen here in zone 5 with no protection. It withstands the wind and gets a fair amount of winter sun. I'd love to know the variety cause I'd certainly plant more.
do the leaves turn "reddish or purplish" during the winter? And I'm figuring on that it has always tended to be much wider growing than it is tall? Or do you prune it that way? Of course, there's no guarantee that this info will help us to id it! But, it will narrow it down!!!
This message was edited May 21, 2008 9:21 PM
Can't help you on the ID, but that is a really stunning plant!
The leaves do turn a purplish red in the winter. I pruned one limb back about 4 years ago. It came on quick and shot straight up into the air about 2-1/2 ft higher than the rest of it and spoiled the look. I took it out at the base. Other than that I've left it alone. I would categorize it as a sprawler. It gets fertilized twice a year. Once right after flowering with Hollytone and in the late fall with a light side dressing of triple phosphate. The blooming shrubs here seem to respond well to that in my soil. I just wish I knew what it was. It is so sturdy in this zone and puts up with a lot of not so good exposure. A late spring freeze will kill the flowers but it has to be a hard freeze. A light frost doesn't cause much damage. I also let the oak leaves collect under it. It's got a pretty deep natural mulch. What it doesn't have is a name. I appreciate the efforts to ID it. I would love to plant another.
Can you get a closer shot of the flowers and hopefully some leaves too? I still won't know which one it is but that might help someone else who's more familiar with all the different cultivars.
First thing tomorrow.
Sounds like an excellent plan! I agree, it is a really beautiful azalea!!!! you're lucky.
gee, as low to the ground as that is, you should be able to layer it and have 8 or10 well started shrubs next summer. if you look real close,may have some stems already rooted .sally
The best I could get.
I am so jealous that you can grow azaleas, let alone one this large and gorgeous! Here in Phoenix the nursery's always tease us gardeners with small azaleas iand for years I fell for it and bought them. Sure enough I killed everyone or the heat did. I wont fall for it now, but sure still love them.
Beautiful Plant!
Oh for goodness sake. I never thought of layering. I have layered a Rhododendron catawbiense 'Roseum Elegans' and an Album. It worked but it was three years before it looked like I could successfully separate them. After I read your post I went out and checked under this one. There is nothing rooted on its own. There are oodles of slender branches hugging the mulch so it wouldn't take much to nick a peg a few.
I'll take a bow on behalf of Mother Nature. She gets all the credit. And the unknown breeder.
if they stay in there 3 years,you are still ahead,.it should have nice roots by fall next year and if you wait another year, the babies are still feeding from the mother ,and you should have some nice starters ready to pinch prune.actually,if you just take cuttings,they have to build a root system on thier own and you lose about a year.if your growing for the market,you can afford to do cuttings because you have a paycheck every year after a three year investment and your doing greenhouses full,transplanted to fields.keep us posted,that is such a beautiful plant,i'd even like to have one later sally
Well, my best guess is that it's one of the Girard's azaleas. The first picture has the color of azalea girard's crimson and the second one of girard's fuschia. Both varieties turn colors in the winter. All girards azaleas are low growing and tend to be wider than they are tall. here is a link to the ones on daves garden, however none of the pictures there show azaleas that are all that old. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=rhododendron&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=girard%27s&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search
Ahhhh! You've nailed it redchic01 - It's Girard's 'Crimson'. No doubt about it. If this is a series of Girard's then I'm interested in getting some others. As you can see, when the weather gods cooperate, they are one might fine azalea. You know your stuff!
believe me... I was just lucky that's all. I glad that that's a match!. The girard's azaleas are a really good series of plant and the weather gods should be very happy about it....since you would be contributing colors that would only highlight the weathers charms!! :-p
This message was edited May 23, 2008 10:43 AM
You probably already figured this out, but there are more of the girard's series than what's listed at DavesGarden. There's at least 9 of them... if not more!!!
Check out their website and their pictures for confirmation: http://www.girardnurseries.com/Girard-Evergreen-s/28.htm
I talked to Girard Nurseries today and emailed a photo. They have not grown "Crimson" for a long time. They expressed an interest in getting some cuttings. I live 2 hours west of their operations, but I do drive very close to there ( Cleveland Ohio) about once a month. It might work out. There is no doubt that the mystery of the big red azalea has been solved. I'm just tickled.
BTW - It pays to keep a garden journal. Too bad I didn't start keeping one until 3 years ago. That's one of the reasons I wanted to identify this plant. From now on I want records and plant ID's for eveything I grow and especially for anything I kill. ;>)
