Rhododendron, Azalea 'Delaware Valley White'

Gorgeous large azaela. Blooms beautifully year after year. Looks fabulous with my white Maureen tulips and dogwoods grouped together fo...Read Morer spring show.

yep, a box store staple. I'm in a warmer climate and it did not do well for me, either. There are better cultivars out there so skip this one.

This is the single most widely planted azalea in our area and a mainstay of cheap landscapers and big box stores alike. It's also a pet p...Read Moreeeve of mine, and not just because it's overplanted.

Perhaps it does better further south, but here in Boston (Z6a) it has the following disadvantages:

1) In the fall, many of the leaves turn yellow and others stay green. It's mostly evergreen, but the foliage looks sickly all winter even when it's healthy. I'd much rather grow an azalea that's frankly deciduous.

2) After its brief season of bloom, the faded corollas turn brown and slimy and stick to the leaves in unsightly masses for months unless laboriously removed by hand.

3) When grown in full sun, it's often afflicted by azalea lacebug.

I too doubt that it's hardy north of Z6a, and so apparently does Dirr.

This is one of the most common cultivars of Evergreen Azaleas sold in the Mid-Atlantic. It is listed in the Manual of Woody Landscape Pla...Read Morents by Dr. Michael A Dirr in 1998 to be a Glen Dale hybrid, originally bred in Maryland. These Glen Dale Hybrids usually have bigger flowers than other kinds. I love Evergreen Azaleas as florist plants, but I am not fond of them as landscape plants because they often get icky bushy with a poor habit, especially in sun, and can hurt when working with them. They also are cheap over-used plants sold at any discount store. They get attacked by Azalea Lacebug and often brown in winter, especially in sunny, windy spots. I have a customer that has three of this cultivar together in part shade, a sheltered site from winds, and moist acid soil, and they look good all year long with good evergreen foliage. I am skeptical of them being hardy to USDA Zone 5a. A few cultivars can make it to Zone 5b, but most only to Zone 6a. Evergreen Azaleas come from East Asia, most stock from Japan, all having tiny evergreen leaves and slender stems.

The real Azaleas are more upright, have stout stems, bigger buds, can have yellow and orange flowers, are deciduous with yellow or orange autumn color, even red, and are neater, more expensive, higher quality plants native to North America and Asia.