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| Azaleas at my Kingwood home. I hope to have some just as lovely as these at Mersey! |
Azaleas are such lovely flowering plants and shout "I'm in the SOUTH", with their beautiful blooms. The can make great understory plants that grow well in partial shade. Azalea bushes do well when planted in the filtered shade of pine trees. Pine needles are acidic and Azaleas love acidic conditions. Some sources claim Azaleas planted in partial shade will retain their flowers longer in the spring.
There are those that keep their leaves and others referred to as deciduous where they lose theirs. Encore Azaleas are repeat bloomers, where the remainder of varieties bloom in the spring. My personal experience is that Encores never cover themselves in blooms but offer spotty blooming throughout the spring, summer and fall. Someone once told me that you can tell how large an Azalea will grow by observing the leaf size. There are some varieties that stay around 3 foot tall, regular varieties can grow 10 feet or more. Just read the tag when buying, but if they are already present in your yard observe the leaf size for indicators.
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| Pruning shears. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Prune your azaleas in the spring, immediately after they have finished blooming, to maintain the desired size and shape. Do not postpone pruning too long after blooming, otherwise you may end up cutting away next years blooms. When you do prune remove discolored, damaged or dead branches and foliage. Use only sharpened and sterilized pruning shears to prevent the spread of plant diseases. A guide is to remove individual branches back to the spot where they join a larger branch. New flower buds for next spring's bloom are set by midsummer, and any pruning after mid-June could result in diminished flower production next year.
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