Alabama Azalea

Size, growth and what to expect

It grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. In gardens it stays 4 to 6 feet tall and as wide, and it may sucker. Wild plants reach 10 feet, rarely 16.

Clusters of six to ten white funnels open in April and May, before or with the new leaves. Each has a yellow blotch on the upper petal and long stamens. Bumble bees find the flowers of special value. The capsules ripen in fall.

It grows wild in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and the Florida panhandle. Its home is open, dry woods and rocky slopes. In Alabama it grows in hardwood forests on slopes, ridges and hillsides.

How to grow Alabama Azalea

Alabama azalea does best in part shade, with shelter from afternoon sun, which scorches the leaves. It wants an acid soil of sand or loam with plenty of organic matter. It grows on drier ground than most native azaleas, but the roots rot where the soil does not drain. In heavy shade it grows slowly and flowers little. Set plants 5 feet apart and keep them 3 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship potted. Plant dormant plants in early spring or fall, in a hole three times as wide as the root ball and no deeper. Set the top of the ball a little above grade, and put the native soil back in. Mulch every year with pine needles or leaves to keep the soil cool and moist, and keep the mulch off the stems. The seed is dust-fine and needs light but no chilling. Sow it in winter on the surface of damp milled sphagnum, uncovered, under a clear cover at room temperature. Seedlings come up in one to three weeks.

Water weekly through the first two summers. Deer damage it often, though it shrugs off rabbits, so cage it where deer are common. Prune, if at all, right after bloom, because next year's flower buds form by late summer.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees carry its pollen. Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed. It crosses freely with Piedmont azalea in the wild, so a seedling may show a pink throat. Aphids, lace bugs and mites can mark the leaves, and root rot takes plants in soil that stays wet. Every part of the plant is poisonous if eaten, and honey from its flowers may be too.