Rhododendron Species, Plumleaf Azalea

I could not help but notice this late blooming native azalea with its vivid red-orange flowers blooming in mid-July 2019 at Jenkins Arbor...Read Moreetum in southeast Pennsylvania when I walking through the property. Beautiful, high quality shrub like other deciduous azaleas. It is native to the southeast USA.

Unique among our native deciduous azaleas in its season of bloom (late July/early August here in Boston Z6a)---a time when few other tree...Read Mores or shrubs will bloom. The flowers are very showy, though unscented.

This is a large shrub that can reach 15' tall at maturity, but more often 8-10'.

As with other rhododendrons and azaleas, it does best on well-drained, acid soils high in organic matter and does not tolerated high soil pH.

Plumleaf azalea is also the rarest of our Eastern native deciduous azaleas and is being considered for the Endangered Species List by the federal government. Its range is restricted to a handful of counties along the Georgia-Alabama border in the Chattahoochee River Valley, where it can be found in ravines and on steep stream banks that often are densely wooded with mixed hardwoods and pines.

Great plant. I live in the north metro area of Atlanta and my prunifolium is still blooming on October 10th.

My 10 year old Plant never fails to bloom -- usually from mid-July to mid-August. Docturf 29526