I haven't had much luck with azaleas. I chopped one and repotted it last year. It put out some new shoots, but then they wilted and the plant died pretty promptly. With the all the COVID stuff, the only azalea I could find was a $4.98 special, with the very descriptive tag that said "azalea". With little to lose, I decided to try again. The blooms look like a "rosebud" type azalea. Once the blooms were about spent, I took it out of the pot and discovered it was actually 4 separate, scrawny plants. I sawed off about 1/3 of the rootball, and cut the four plants apart. I cut a few pie shaped wedges into each rootball and planted in some acrylic grow pots with the kanuma I had left from last year's attempt. That was May 28th. The last picture is from today. They are all still among the living, putting out some new growth. We'll see how long that lasts.
So far, so good. Fingers crossed
- Thread starter Carol 83
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Deep Sea Diver
Masterpiece
Here it is in full bloom.Truly magnificent flowers! Looks like a great start.
Gather ye Rosebuds while ye may!
@Harunobu is really the site pro on azalea ID. I’m sure he’ll take a look at a your Rosebud.
Cheers
DSD sends
Harunobu
Chumono
This is some R.simsii aka Belgian Indica azalea. There are many many cultivar, most of them no longer being produced or extinct, as Belgian azaleas are quite in decline. I am also quite bad at filled flowers as I don't like them. It is probably an older cultivar. The story of people bringing Belgian Azalea to the US and the elite growing them in greenhouses. And then at some point someone tried to grow them in south-eastern US outside, and they did well.
But I suspect Carol knows all that. So no, I don't recognize it at all.
But I suspect Carol knows all that. So no, I don't recognize it at all.
Nope, I didn't know that. Thanks for the info. Just happy, they are still alive at the moment!
Deep Sea Diver
Masterpiece
Well I looked up the Rosebud azalea and concur with your initial assessment. I think you can relax a bit.
It looks like they were hybridized by Gable and they are mega hardy.
Gable hybrids were introduced by the late “Joseph B. Gable, a nurseryman and hybridizer in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania. They are among the hardiest evergreen azaleas.” http://rhodyman.net/rhodynev.php#anchor274499
Good luck
DSD sends
Awesome, good to know. Thanks for the research! Hopefully, I'll be able to keep these alive!
Harunobu
Chumono
Oh, this is not 'Rosebud'. The leaves are different. Yes, that one apparently is very hardy, but hardy in that context means 'winter hardy' as the goal of James Gable was to create azalea that would grow well in Pennsylvania. And back in those days, the kurume azaleas had just been imported and many were not hardy enough. It is kind of funny to think about why a person in the US at that time in history decided to create new cultivar of a plant that wasn't really around as a garden plant at all back then (1920-1930). People still grow his 'Rosebud' despite many people trying to improve over it.
Anyway, I thought your location said Alabama. But you are in Illinois. Are you sure this is a garden plant and not a house plant? If you had asked me, I would say that the one you got wouldn't handle frost very well. Everything about this yells 'florist azalea' to me. Which is why these flowers are so large and full.
Anyway, I thought your location said Alabama. But you are in Illinois. Are you sure this is a garden plant and not a house plant? If you had asked me, I would say that the one you got wouldn't handle frost very well. Everything about this yells 'florist azalea' to me. Which is why these flowers are so large and full.
I'm not sure what kind it is at all. It was the only azalea they had and all the tag said was "Azalea".
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
GORGEOUS flowers... jelly.
Thanks, I thought so too. Even if they don't live, the flower show was worth the $4.98.
3 out of the 4 still doing fine. 1 crapped out, I think it got too wet, we've had alot more rain in July than what is normal. I was pretty worried when @Leo in N E Illinois said when you separate the ones with several plants in one pot, they usually don't make it. But so far, so good, at least for three of them.
Leo in N E Illinois
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You can test one outdoors for winter and protect the other two, keeping them as close to frost free as possible.
shinmai
Chumono
IMHO, that’s Rosebud all day long. I have several. The blossoms are an amazing resemblance of one of my David Austin antique English roses, in miniatur.
Update. I lost one more while on vacation, I think my son actually watered it too much. 
So two left. It's getting cold here, had a few hard frosts. I am performing an experiment, leaving one in the unheated, detached garage and bringing the other inside under the lights. @Harunobu suggested this may be a florist type azalea, so it's worth a try.
So two left. It's getting cold here, had a few hard frosts. I am performing an experiment, leaving one in the unheated, detached garage and bringing the other inside under the lights. @Harunobu suggested this may be a florist type azalea, so it's worth a try.
HorseloverFat
Squarepants with Conkers
Interesting! (About the overwintering experiment, not the death.Update. I lost one more while on vacation, I think my son actually watered it too much.
...sorry for your loss.)
Deep Sea Diver
Masterpiece
I really like these kind of experiments! Sorry about those losses.Update. I lost one more while on vacation, I think my son actually watered it too much.
Please keep us informed how things progress.
My garage, cold frames and garden are all populated with various growth stages of azaleas as sort of an initial test on growth - in ground vs cold frames vs garage
btw: Does your garage have a window?
cheers
DSD sends
Leo in N E Illinois
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Good experiment Carol.
The typical garage windows on the tops of the doors. If it gets above 40, it's easy enough to set them outside.
I figured if they were the florist type, I didn't want to kill both of them. Even if I do, I'm out a whole $4.98. I did pick up a little Chinzan this fall. I'll keep it in the garage with the crapes and mulberry.
