Coastal 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. It usually stays 2 to 3 feet tall and as wide, rarely 6. In one trial, two-year-old seedlings bloomed the spring after planting out.

Clusters of 4 to 13 white flowers, often flushed pink, open in April and May, before or with the new leaves. The tubes are sticky with glands, and the scent is sweet to musky. Bumble bees find the flowers of special value. The capsules mature from August to October.

It grows wild only on the Atlantic coastal plain, from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Georgia. Its home is moist pine flatwoods and savannas kept open by fire. It also turns up in ditches, old fields and roadsides.

How to grow Coastal Azalea

Coastal azalea does best in part shade, and it takes full sun where the soil stays moist. It wants a sandy, acid soil that stays evenly moist yet drains well, though it tolerates spells of wet or dry ground. Shelter it from strong winter wind and late frost, which burn the leaves and damage the flowers. Set plants 3 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 touch above grade, and put the native soil back in. Mulch with pine needles, bark or compost to keep the soil moist and its temperature even. 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 rabbits leave it alone, so cage it where deer are common. Clip off the spent flower clusters right after bloom, since next year's buds form by late summer.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, but its pollen clumps in sticky masses that insects must carry. Sources disagree on whether a native azalea sets seed with its own pollen, so plant two seedlings from different parents for seed. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds come to the flowers. 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.