Help rooting older azaleas

Because I need azaleas for an historic property that is being converted to a museum, we want older plants. There is a mansion here, owned by the county, that has large, older azaleas with the smaller blossoms. But I know very little about propagation. I have only rooted brugs. We tried some but the soil was too hard. I also tried rooting some in water.
So now I need the real deal:
1. how do you root them and
2. when should I take cuttings?

Layering is very easy to get some new plants (if the plant has some long horizontal branches then it may already have some rooted plants) but cuttings can be done too with a good success rate. Use a quality potting mix, take cuttings in late spring/early summer after blooming - semi woody where the new growth is starting to get a little woody, strip bottom leaves and dip in rooting hormone, stick cuttings in fresh potting mix and place in semi shady area until rooted. Don't water excessively but don't let it dry out either. Keep in pot for a year or two until well rooted.

Here are two sites you might want to check for better information.

http://www.azaleas.org/index.pl/azpropagate.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2079922_propagate-azaleas.html

wow, I didn't think it took that long for the cuttings to get large enough to plant in the ground. But this looks pretty simple so I will try this spring after they bloom.

Once they are big enough to put in their permanent location they grow fast - sometimes too fast.

I will remember to consider their mature size. Thanks

I have found that I get a much higher success rate by air layering azaleas. Depending on the size branch you use you could also get a larger plant to begin with.

Just out of curiosity, I browsed for propagating azaleas at Biltmore. Figured the temperature range and older varieties might be similar to your conditions. Looks like there is quite a bit of propagation done there. You might want to try azaeas.org for more info.

Note the link I provided earlier - azaleas.org

thanks folks. I don't how to layer but my spousal unit does. I will check out the website too. Biltmore is only about 35 or 40 miles from here. I usually go once a year at different times to see what plants are in bloom.