Tips to Grow Beautiful Flower-Filled Azaleas
Being from the South, Azaleas are a garden staple and they really aren’t that difficult to grow. Azaleas are filled with beautiful pink flowers in early Spring, every year without fail, (they do come in other colors, but most often you will see them in varying shades of pink and I like pink). Beautiful azalea shrubs signal the beginning of Spring in a glorious way.
My azaleas bloom prolifically and don’t really require much attention from me, so I would like to share my tips for growing beautiful azaleas.
There are many varieties of azaleas and I am by no means an expert on azaleas. This post is all based on my own personal experience with Encore Medium and Encore Dwarf Azaleas.
1. Azaleas like well-drained acidic soil. You can easily have your soil tested. Your local County Extension Office should be able to provide information on the process to have your soil tested. You can also easily amend your soil if necessary and the County Extension Office can help you with that information, as well.
2. Azaleas do need to be watered during the dry months; mine get watered every other day during the summer, via our automatic sprinkler system.
3. I fertilize my azaleas in early to mid - February before they begin to bloom and then I do fertilize again in early summer and 1 more time in the summer, if they begin to look unhealthy. I have some that receive direct sun in the hot summer months, (not ideal, azaleas like partial sun), so I usually feed mine once mid- summer. I fertilize my azaleas with Miracle Gro Water Soluble Azalea, Camellia, Rhododendron Food . I have read many gardening websites that say you don’t need to fertilize azaleas unless there is a problem. I do fertilize and mine are lavish bloomers.
4. I prune my azaleas as soon as they finish blooming. I usually cut back any long, scraggly branches and try to give it a nice overall shape. Some of the branches in the pictures below will be pruned back to help maintain a nice shape.
This is honestly all I do to my azaleas and you can see from the pictures my azaleas have abundant blooms every year. If you live in zones 6 – 10 you can grow your own azaleas.
Happy Spring!
Tonya
““If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.””