Plumleaf azalea

If you could have a red-flowered azalea blooming in July, would you purchase and plant one?  There is such a thing.  But chances are good that if you went looking for one it would be hard to find.  And if a nursery grew it, chances are good that you wouldn’t go looking for it.  Growers have a hard time figuring out what you’re going to want next year. 

One theory holds that gardeners do most of their shopping in the spring.  In fact that’s the make-or-break season for garden centers whose annual profit line may be seriously impacted by rainy days in spring.  According to this theory, gardeners purchase what’s in bloom and that’s why our gardens and landscapes are heavy on spring bloom and lighter in other seasons.

At any rate, if you just love azaleas or if you need a red flowering shrub in July, here’s one for you to search out:  Rhododendron prunifolium, plumleaf azalea.  Native to Georgia and Alabama It grows well to about 8-10 feet in Chatham (assuming reasonably good site selection and soil preparation).  It’s in bloom now.  It’s deciduous.  That’s OK, in my opinion, since azaleas are fairly poor specimens as evergreens.  Once the bloom is off, they function primarily to attract lacebug. 

And that brings me to another advantage of deciduous azaleas:  they may not be immune to lacebug, but it’s definitely not the major problem it can be with the evergreen varieties.  Perhaps it’s because there are no leaves on the plants where the insects can spend the winter?  Perhaps people who grow deciduous azaleas are less inclined to put them in full sun or other poor growing conditions?  Perhaps it’s something else.  There are a number of deciduous azaleas native to our region.  Most have some shade of pink flowers and can be very fragrant.  Most bloom in spring with the rest of the azaleas.

You can see some pictures taken of one of these plumleaf specimens in July 2008.  It bloomed about 2 weeks earlier last year.  And I’ll have to admit that it doesn’t have the floral density of more common azaleas.  Still, it’s a red azalea in July.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/plumleaf.html