Azaleas are easy to love. Their amazing flowers put on an incredible display of color every spring like clockwork, helping to herald the coming growing season. Whether in a formal or a woodland garden setting, azaleas make a great addition to any garden. When these plants are in full bloom, it’s almost impossible to see the foliage underneath.
There are two types of azalea for our gardens, sun and shade. Now that just makes lots of sense, doesn’t it.
There are many hybrids of both the sun and shade azaleas, too many to mention here. What that means to a gardener is a wide choice of flower color-solids or bicolor; and flower style. There is also a range in bloom times, bloom sizes, plant size and growth habit. With a comprehensive selection, your garden could have azaleas blooming from late winter into late spring, in the sun and in the shade.
All azaleas love acid soil, good amendments, and fertilizers. When planting your azaleas, be sure to mix the native soil of your garden with an azalea (acid) planting amendment. They like good drainage but do not like their roots to stay too wet or dry out too much - moist, but not wet. Plant them so that the root crown is about 1 inch above the soil line.