Few landscape shrub are as wide lionise and look for in the bound garden as azaleas and rhododendron . Their glossy , lush presentation of color energize the senses and have a way of taking center level in just about any landscape painting . If you watched the Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta , Georgia , you ’ll know what I ’m blab about . The heave masses of coloured , matured azaleas and rhododendron in the backdrop clearly competed with the golfers for the viewer ’s attention .

These plant are admired and reveredin many countries and across many culture . In the United States andinAsia , countless azalea festivals are timed to come when the shrub are at their showy . At least two major horticultural fellowship are devoted to this family of plant . Just about every public botanical garden this side of the Mississippi and even beyond has an azalea and rhododendron collection .

So what ’s so especial about azalea and rhododendron ? The answer is simple . They are the paradigm of spring . A specimen in full bloom has no adequate in the spring landscape painting . When viewed in the garden , they are drop - dead gorgeous in all their various forms and coloring . A individual specimen is enchanting when viewed close up . A group of them viewed at a distance or encountered in a timber context is nothing shortsighted of glorious . Their form , wont , and amazing colors dominate the spring landscape painting .

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN azalea AND RHODODENDRONS

Azaleas and rhododendron are native to Asia , Europe and North America and may be either deciduous or evergreen plant . All evergreen specie earlier come up from Asia and generally tend to be stout only to Zone 6 . The deciduous mintage are native to this country and tend to be dauntless to Zone 4 . Of 17 native specie , all but two are native to the southeastern part of the United States . They have been extensively hybridized for the retiring match of hundred years , result in thousands of hybrids , both named and unknown , with characteristics that do n’t always clearly identify them as either azalea or rhododendron .

Botanically speak , azaleas and rhododendrons belong to the genusRhododendron , with azaleas identified as a subspecies of the rhododendron family .   According to botanists , there are not enough botanic deviation between the two to classify them as two disjoined metal money . The American Rhododendron Society describes the plant life this way : “ All azalea are rhododendrons but not all rhododendron are azaleas . ”

To a novice , it can be difficult to tell the dispute between some azaleas and rhododendron .   A pillow slip in point is the P.J.M. rhododendron , a dauntless variety which is smallish ( three - to - five feet ) like a distinctive azalea . It blossom early in leap like an azalea and has small leaves , but the foliation is leathery and evergreen , like rhododendron foliage . The bush is altogether covered with blossoms like anazalea , but it also bear bunch of blossoms in last groups like a rhododendron . The number of stamens , however , help discover the bush as a rhododendron . The feature listed below may help you distinguish between the two plants . Bear in mind , however , that these are GENERAL characteristics only and may not hold true for every loan-blend or coinage :

Thanks to the effort of both American and Asiatic hybridizers , thousands of azalea and rhododendron mintage are available commercially . One garden center in Northern Virginia , for lesson ,   carry more thanone hundredazalea species in their armory and aboutfiftyrhododendron species . The option can be overwhelming . Before buying a plant , conceive color , foliage , size and planting site . The bloom time in spring is in general onlythree - to - fourweeks . After that , believe about what the foliage will contribute to your landscape painting . Thiswill help you decide whether you want a deciduous or an evergreen plant . Azaleas tend to average aboutthree - to - fivefeet in meridian and width , but bear in mindwhile   some cultivar may be little , a lot of them can grow quite large . So keep the final size in idea . Sunlight essential vary from specie to species , but dawning sunlight and dappled afternoon nuance normally work well for these plants .

There has been a resurgence of stake in azaleas over the preceding decade or so due to the origination of the Encore series of re - bally coinage . This accumulation includes more thantwo dozenchoices of single and double blossom cultivars . The initial efflorescence period pass off in leap with a follow - on show of blooms in summer and yet again in fall . rosiness - a - thon is another serial of reblooming azaleas available on the market with reblooming characteristics alike to the Encore series . Should you opt a reblooming azalea for your garden , keep in creative thinker how the color will mold ( or not ) with your landscape throughout the entire growing season .

CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS

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AZALEA AND RHODODENDRON COLLECTIONS IN BOTANICAL GARDENS

Azaleas and rhododendron are so popular on the east sea-coast that it is impossible to name all the assemblage that are usable without spread out this clause to an unmanageable length . Of the many options useable , a few that are within drive length of Charlottesville admit :

The west coast also offers a number of botanical gardens with impressive aggregation of rhododendrons .   Many of the specimen on display   are at least 40 metrical foot grandiloquent – a monstrous size of it compared to theirEast Coastcousins .   The interesting thing about these plant specimen is that some of them are endangered   while others   are extinct in their native habitats .

RESOURCES

Azalea Society of America ( http://azaleas.org )

American Rhododendron Society ( http://www.rhododendron.org )

The United States National Arboretum ( www.usna.usda.gov )

The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens ( www.gardenbythesea/org )

Virginia Cooperative Extension ( www.ext.vt.edu )

Clemson University ( http://www.clemson.edu )