Are any of these azaleas worth digging up?

[Jansai..]

I have a relative who has a couple of azaleas on their property. Are they worth digging up?. I'm not sure what variety they are but they are evergreen and have fairly small leaves and crimson flowers in spring

 

[Rivian]

They are probably best where they are

 

[Harunobu]

These are rhododendron. The third image might be something worth digging up. That said, there are not too many rhododendron bonsai.

 

[Jansai..]

These are rhododendron. The third image might be something worth digging up. That said, there are not too many rhododendron bonsai.

 

[Jansai..]

These are rhododendron. The third image might be something worth digging up. That said, there are not too many rhododendron bonsai.

That's strange. The seller said they were azaleas. How do you distinguish azaleas from rhododendrons?

 

[Harunobu]

The last picture is a rhododendron. I can see, because of the way it looks. You are kind of asking how someone can tell one brother apart from the other. The way you might tell is to look for hairs on the leaves visible to the naked eye, running in a parallel down the leaves.

The other pictures may be azaleas since I cannot see the leaves.

 

[Jansai..]

The last picture is a rhododendron. I can see, because of the way it looks. You are kind of asking how someone can tell one brother apart from the other. The way you might tell is to look for hairs on the leaves visible to the naked eye, running in a parallel down the leaves.

The other pictures may be azaleas since I cannot see the leaves.

Okay thanks.

 

[Harunobu]

I can try to put it in words, and I am sure it will mean something to you. But I don't think my works will do much to instruct you how to also tell them apart. It helps to look at many of them already knowing what they are. It is not anywhere near as hard as telling similar species of pines or junipers apart.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

The Difference Between Azaleas and Rhododendrons | Plant Addicts

Learn about the differences of Azaleas vs Rhododendrons. This quick & easy guide will help you quickly tell the two similar plants apart.

plantaddicts.com

 

[Harunobu]

The Difference Between Azaleas and Rhododendrons | Plant Addicts

Learn about the differences of Azaleas vs Rhododendrons. This quick & easy guide will help you quickly tell the two similar plants apart.

plantaddicts.com

The deciduous vs evergreen and 5 stamen vs 10+ stamen are incorrect. The text does correct it by saying 'usually' on the stamen. Not quite sure if deciduous azaleas do outnumber evergreen azaleas by a lot.

 

[Forsoothe!]

If the people want to get rid of them, and you're a new kid, dig 'em up. Worse comes to worse and you learn how to dig up shrubs without killing them by doing it wrong this time. That alone is better than waiting for something nice to come along and killing it then because you don't know better. There's lots to learn about the wild variety in roots and their distribution, or lack thereof, in plants that have become un-comely in the landscape to the point that people want to get rid of them. You may learn how to look at a shrub and guess how the roots are and how big or small the mass of roots are. You will also learn how the feeder roots, -the only ones that really count-, can be arranged in-close to the trunk or way out and useless at the ends of anchor roots. The distribution of foliage will be uneconomical, too, and everywhere except where you would rather have it. You will have to ask questions and hear some diverse opinions about what to do to trim initially, then what to expect next summer and what to do next autumn, ad infinitum. I think what you have here is a gift horse, and you know what they say about that!

 

[Shibui]

All azaleas are a subset of rhododendron anyway so the can look similar. If leaves are small they are usually classed as azalea as far as I am aware. In any case it does not matter much because they both respond in a similar manner. It is just the larger leaves and longer internodes that prevent rhodies from becoming great bonsai.
Most azaleas are easy to transplant. They survive well with very few roots and can be chopped down to bare trunks and will then bud all over as they recover.

It is hard to assess the value of the trunks from just a couple of 2D photos from one angle but in my opinion any azalea is worth the attempt, even if it just for the experience. If the trunk is really poor it can be replanted in another garden at some stage.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Ok I’ll weigh in on this, @Jansai.. There may be some good news ad your timimg is good as it you wouldn’t dig these up until the air and ground temps warm up a bit... maybe end of Feb early March

Yet from your photos I feel they all have strong Rhody characteristic. You could take a couple more photos of the foliage on #2 and the area where the leaves and buds are together.

Here’s my rundown. Btw I agree with @Harunobu. I can’t tell you right off how I see which is azalea or rhody it’s a gestalt kind of thing. I’ll write my initial thoughts though. I’m not perfect,

Photo 1 Rhody. I wouldn’t dig it unless you need a nice landscape plant. The shape, leaves, caliper and curves all say Rhody when taken in together. I literally pulled 3 big rhodies out of the groUnd= With atreev

Photo 2 Hmm this may be a Rhody too. Also from the photo It doesn’ look promising to me because of the trunk.
I could be wrong on this yet the trunk says not great got bonsai perhaps and the poor photo of the leaves too

Photo 3 This also looks like a Rhody, but not 100% sure... looks like the best promise to me looking at the trunkline photo However the overall feeling of heft and bulkiness, growth pattern say Rhody to me.

Photo 4 The flower bud and leaf formation clearly smack Rhody all the way.

btw: I was thinking that I’ve heard some old timers in farm country just call all of rhodies and azaleas “Rhodies” lumping together and rightly so all azaleas are rhodies yet all rhodies are not azaleas.

cheers
dsd send

 

[HoneyHornet]

Did u do it