Jimmy Pete’s Azalea 2020-2025 Entry

[Jimmy Pete]

Found this one in my yard, buried behind some bigger siblings azaleas. This is my first attempt, so hopefully it goes OK!

It was getting very little sun and and was pretty hard to get to, so I decided to move it into a little bit better spot. This new home is mostly spotty sunlight and drains well. I cut a pretty big circle around it to prevent killing it in the move process. I’m hoping this buys me some time to study more as well as finding a good pot.

In the wild:


Some pics during the big move:

 

[Jimmy Pete]

In our new home! Been about a week and everything looks OK so far. Leaves are green and perky. Been watering daily. Time to study what to do next!

 

[Pitoon]

Nice, what color are the flowers?

If you had it out of the ground why put it back into the ground and not in a pot?

 

[Harunobu]

Looks like a deciduous. Maybe some yellow-orange please?

 

[Jimmy Pete]

Nice, what color are the flowers?

If you had it out of the ground why put it back into the ground and not in a pot?

Not sure about the flowers. It’s been hidden Away so never had the opportunity to see it bloom - will be a nice surprise!

total Rookie mistake/lack of confidence haha! I took it out with the intention of potting, but realized quickly I didn’t have the stuff I needed to do it . Then I read a post that said trees respond better to heavy cut back when in the ground, so I just decided to put it back in until I’m more prepared. Been taking extra special care of it in the mean time. Not really sure when to cut it, but I’m planning on going at it pretty aggressively.

any advice on next steps? cant find much about handling a tree like this. Most videos I’ve found are from nursery stock

 

[Jimmy Pete]

Im hoping I can get it into a pot and cut back this year, assuming it’s not too late! Theres a bonsai nursery near me called Brussels that I’m going to check out next week. Hopefully I can find a good pot and some azalea soil. Worst case I hear it’s a pretty cool place, so will make a nice little day trip!

 

[Pitoon]

How did the replanting go? Any updates?

 

[Jimmy Pete]

How did the replanting go? Any updates?

Hey - sorry for the delay circling back to this. Life got a bit crazy for a while there.

It survived the replant and is doing great so far! I was nervous to kill it by pruning and/or putting in a pot, so I opted to play it safe and leave it in the ground. I was thinking about cutting it back this year after it blooms, then putting in a pot next year. Thoughts?

 

[Jimmy Pete]

I probably should’ve done this earlier, but lacked the confidence. Came back from a beach trip feeling rejuvenated and decided to go for it. There were three main shoots, but I decided to lop off the middle one and focus on these two.

Here goes nothing!

 

[Jimmy Pete]

Got to see it’s color for the first time as well. It’s a nice white, which was a surprise since it buried in a row of red on my side yard. I like it! Let’s hope for new growth

 

[Jimmy Pete]

I don’t really have a clear vision for this thing, yet, but I’m wondering if I should’ve cut the left branch back a bit more. Then hopefully this little bud grows the green way.

 

[Jimmy Pete]

Maybe something like this. Dunno. I suppose I need to see how it grows to understand what’s possible.

 

[Pitoon]

Spring is here and your azalea could be blooming (depending on your location) or starting to leaf out with this season’s flush……it’s time for updates!

I would also like to add at this time we have 3 prizes to award. Many thanks to @Forsoothe! and @Deep Sea Diver for donating. I am also donating a prize as well.

If you are no longer interested in continuing in the Azalea Contest, please let me know so we can close your thread, thanks.

 

[Jimmy Pete]

Not sure when I can expect to see new growth so trying to take my mind off of it with inspo pics. Love the look of this type and it seems to have a similar trunk structure.

 

[Jimmy Pete]

Got some buds popping through!

 

[Pitoon]

Nice, it survived the hack and winter.

 

[Jimmy Pete]

Still going strong! I didn’t get growth in all of the places I was expecting, but I think there’s potential. Time to figure out what to do next!

 

[Jimmy Pete]

I like where the lower branches popped up

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Azaleas ain’t no Shrinking Violets! They got a strong will to survive.

best
DSD sends

 

[Jimmy Pete]

Was tinkering around in the backyard and noticed a nice surprise - some blooms!