The Azalea Society of America (ASA) has declared “April is Azalea Month” to celebrate the beauty of these flowering shrubs.
Azaleas are long cherished as symbols of spring and renewal. They are extremely popular landscape plants due to their brightly colored blooms, long-lasting flowers and their ease of cultivation.
Azaleas belong to the genus Rhododendron. The different varieties of azaleas are classified as being species or hybrids. Species grow true from seed (unless they are crossed with other species or hybrids). Hybrids are crosses between other species or hybrids, and may be faithfully reproduced only from cuttings, which are clones of the mother plant. Azaleas have been hybridized for hundreds of years, and almost 10,000 different varieties have been named, although far fewer are in the trade. Azaleas provide a wide variety of plant habits, sizes, colors and bloom times to meet almost every landscaping need or personal taste.
All native North American azaleas are deciduous (drop their leaves in the fall), with flower colors ranging from white to purple, pink, red, orange, and yellow. Evergreen azaleas, native primarily to Japan, have flower colors including white and various shades of purple, pink, red and reddish orange, but not yellow. Color patterns include single colors and bicolors as well as sectors, stripes and flecks, sometimes on the same plant.
Most azalea varieties bloom in the spring, with some blooming as late as August. Blooms typically last for one or two weeks, and there are re-blooming azaleas that flower spring and fall (e.g., Encore® and ReBLOOM™ varieties).
Azaleas are relatively pest-free, forgiving, and easy-to-grow plants.
Ways to celebrate Azalea Month:
- Enjoy the beauty of azaleas.
- Visit a public garden or park with an azalea collection.
- Attend a local azalea festival or start/host one!
- Plant an azalea shrub in your garden.
- Learn about the many azalea native plants and cultivars in the azaleas database at https://azaleas.org/
- Gift an azalea plant to brighten someone’s day.
- Cut a bouquet of azalea blooms for a pretty indoor bouquet.
- Share #AprilisAzaleaMonth posts on your social media.