i can't find satsuki or kurume azalea seeds online!

[barrosinc]

help!

I am starting to think they don't exist or something like that!!

 

[tmpgh]

Why not buy established plants and save 10 years?

 

[barrosinc]

because importing trees to Chile has so many obstacles and if the plant doesnt get destroyed it is very expensive.

 

[jkd2572]

I think they are mostly propagated by cuttings so it might be very difficult to find seed.

 

[Dav4]

You can hybridize satsuki and produce potentially new cultivars by seed- that's how the Japanese did it a century ago- but I believe all the named cultivars are produced asexually, through cuttings or stooling. Surely there must be a source for azaleas, including some satsuki, in Chile. If not, perhaps a business opportunity awaits.

 

[Adair M]

As the others have said, they're propagated by cuttings. Seeds wouldn't produce trees with the same chacteristics as the parent.

 

[Harunobu]

You use seeds to create new hybrids. Wild type or generic seeds often have less ornamental value.

Think fruit trees or even Japanese maple seedlings.

I sow evergreen azalea seeds for fun, trying to see what grows. Have grown a few hundred seeds. My first seedlings flower this year. Many have satsuki-genes.

What traits are you looking for? Chile must have wacky weather with a lot of mountains and the country elongated along the north-south axis.
If import restrictions are a problem, you sometimes have to use seeds.

 

[barrosinc]

I don't really understand azaleas AT ALL!
I am really confused as what is a satsuki azalea, all i read is that it is a plant that blooms in the 5th month of the year, has small leaves but that is about it...

I see a lot of rhododendrons indicums but no idea if satsuki or not.

HELP!

 

[KennedyMarx]

What is the Difference Between Azaleas and Rhododendrons?

All azaleas are rhododendrons but not all rhododendrons are azaleas. Azaleas have been reclassified and are now in the genus Rhododendron. There are no clear cut lines for distinguishing all azaleas from all rhododendrons but here are a few characteristics to look for.

True rhododendrons have 10 or more stamens which is 2 per lobe. Azaleas usually have 5 stamens or 1 per lobe. Azaleas have 5 lobes in a flower.

Azaleas tend to have appressed hairs which is hair parallel to the surface of the leaf. This is particularly true along the midrib on the underside of the leaf. It is easily seen in "evergreen" azaleas. True rhododendrons instead of hair are often scaly or have small dots on the under side of the leaf. Azalea leaves are never dotted with scales and are frequently pubescent.

Many azaleas are deciduous. True rhodi's are usually evergreen with the exceptions of R. mucronulatum and R. dauricum.

Azaleas have tubular funnel or funnel shaped flowers. Rhodi flowers tend to be bell-shaped.

Note: This information was obtained from:

Dirr, Michael A. 1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. 5th edition. Champaigh, Ilinois: Stipes Publishing.

Greer, Harold. 1996. Greer's Guidebook To Available Rhododendrons. 3rd. edition. Eugene, Oregon: Offshoot Publications.

From http://www.nyrhododendron.org/pages/faqs/6azalea.html

 

[barrosinc]

From http://www.nyrhododendron.org/pages/faqs/6azalea.html

thanks for that, I understand the difference between a non azalea rhododendron and a azalea.
But is almost any variety of japanese azalea a satsuki?

 

[Paradox]

thanks for that, I understand the difference between a non azalea rhododendron and a azalea.
But is almost any variety of japanese azalea a satsuki?

No.

Most azalea you see at landscape nurseries are the Kurume hybrid. I think this is because they are hardier and larger and so are better for landscape plants. I have never seen a satsuki at a landscape nursery, only at a bonsai nursery.

http://azaleasplendor.dyndns.info/azalea/archives/2012/04/entry_9.php

Im afraid that if you dont have a bonsai nursery in your area, you cant import live plants and seeds are not available because they are cultivated with cuttings, it is going to be next to impossible for you to get satsuki azaleas. The Kurume hybrid can be used and can make some very beautiful bonsai.

 

[barrosinc]

what do you think about this azalea?
It has been at my home for some months.

 

[Paradox]

It looks healthy and has a beautiful flower. It looks like a young plant? Hard to say anything else because we cant see the trunk from the angle you took the picture from.

 

[Paradox]

Also that looks like it is a Kurume azalea.


Also, it figures that life has to make a liar out of me....Just a few hours after I said I had never seen a satsuke azalea at a landscape nursery...after looking at literally 1000s of azaleas in different nurseries....I find one at a small mom and pop place...lol.

It was the last and only one there, someone had bought 2 the day before. They didn't have them last year.

 

[Dav4]

Fwiw, I never saw a satsuki at a landscape nursery during 15 + years of nursery crawling in MA. First time I went to a Home Depot down in GA, they had 5 different varieties in 3 gal cans. They're very commonly used as landscape plants in the south east. I suspect the reason is that most satsuki varieties are only marginally hardy in zone 6-7, and just do better in warmer climes.

 

[Harunobu]

Yes, it depends on hardiness/climate whether you can find satsuki or kurume.

Nursery business is though so reliability is king. Sporting is also a problem, if they sport. They have to throw away faulty sports. I have a 'Conversation Piece' that has 100% pink flowers. (Mutations only move from white to pattern to solid, not the other way.) All white plant is good. All solid is bad. So when they root satsuki that sport, they have to check the sports and throw it away if it doesn't sport properly. Even in Japan, they warn you that when you buy satsuki cuttings, you have no guarantee that you have all the sports the cultivar should have on your plant.


Also, it matters if you look at satsuki cultivar with Japanese names or satsuki-type cultivar when it comes to traits.

There are American-bred cultivar with many/most/all of their progenitors being Japanese name cultivar satsuki.



That picture is a Belgian indica or southern indica type based off R. simsii.


Satsuki-type are most often R.indicum based or R.tamurae based. This is R.indicum in the wild in Japan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jxpj2ydWBw

That's how the wild-type looks.


Kurume is based on R kiusianum and R. kaempferi.
R kiusianum has much smaller flowers and leaves than R. indicum. See it here where it covers mountain peaks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDtz_dLZFb4


My site shows pictures of each wild type (but I think after 15 years dyndns will go offline tomorrow and I didn't get a new hostname).
Look at the bottom of this page:
http://azaleasplendor.dyndns.info/azalea/azalea.php


Ill respond to your email.

 

[barrosinc]

Still looking for satsuki seeds, don't really trust ebay.
Thanks