Remove leaves from the lower half and trim cut ends to just below a leaf node.Choose stems of one-year old wood that’s semi-flexible – they should bend without snapping. In spring, right after flowering, collect cuttings five to six inches in length taken from stem tips.This is the wood that’s still flexible, midway between tender new shoots and mature wood. Ideally, you’ll need to take semi-hardwood cuttings. The only way to ensure a clone of the parent plant is to propagate vegetatively, via stem cuttings or stem layering.Įvergreens are the easiest to propagate from cuttings, while deciduous varieties typically give the best results when layered. But because most of the available stock are hybrids, seedlings rarely reproduce true to the parent plant.
Growing up in little pink houses meaning series#
Today, plants from the Northern Lights series are the hardiest that are commercially available, with a selection of outstanding cultivars suitable for chilly Zones 3 and 4. But in the mid-1950s, breeders at the University of Minnesota developed the first cold hardy cultivars, significantly expanding their range of use in the garden. In their native habitat, species plants typically thrive in Zones 5 to 9. viscosum, or swamp azalea.Įarly American and British collectors quickly jumped on the azalea bandwagon, sending plants and seeds back to Europe for breeding purposes.īut it wasn’t until 1825 in Ghent, Belgium, that the first hybrids from North American stock were successfully produced and recorded, with cultivars coming back to North America in the mid-1800s.
And in 1690 in Virginia, English botanist John Bannister recorded the first of several American species, the delightful R. Later, the British imported species from China. The first recorded mention dates to the 15th century and Japanese classifications were first codified in 1692 in a text titled Kinshu Makura, which translates to “A Brocade Pillow.”ĭutch traders first introduced Japanese species into Holland in 1680. In Japan, where most of the Asian varieties hail from, gardeners at Buddhist monasteries and royal palaces have cultivated and bred these ornamentals for over 500 years. To be safe, keep your kids and pets away from these shrubs.Īncient artists and poets of both China and Japan have long celebrated the beauty of azalea flowers. Planting an assortment of different cultivars and species in your garden is an excellent way to enjoy their floral display for the entire growing season.Ĭheck out our guide to azalea bloom times to learn more.Īzaleas are highly toxic, and ingesting any part of the plant, or even azalea honey, can produce life-threatening symptoms. Midseason types flower in late spring, and the late group blossoms from early summer through fall. The early bloomers typically flower from late winter through early spring. Plants are often grouped according to their bloom time, which may be early, midseason, or late. And other native species are used for breeding purposes. Several native North American species grace our gardens, such as Florida flame ( R. The deciduous species are native to eastern Asia, eastern Europe, and North America.
The evergreens grown in home gardens are typically hybrids developed for improved qualities such as disease resistance, flowering time, and cold or heat tolerance. Most evergreen varieties are native to Japan, with a few species each from China, Korea, and Taiwan. Sometimes they’re classified into two distinct subgenera, Pentanthera and Tsutsusi, other times they’re two of the three main groups that make up the Rhododendron genus.įor the home gardener, what’s important to remember is that they fall into two types: deciduous and evergreen. Azaleas belong to the Rhododendron genus, and they are members of the heath family (Ericaceae).
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