Native Azalea

I have recently moved to Oriental, NC. I see native azaleas growing wild. They are pink, fragrant, and deciduous. Local nurseries don't seem to sell them. Can anyone suggest where I might purchase them?

I don't know anything about your area but Niche Gardens in Chapel Hill sells them. http://www.nichegardens.com/catalog/list.php?search=true&nameType=genus&name=rhododendron&zone=any&exposure=any&category=any&sform=any

I have always heard them referred to as "Piedmont Azaleas", or wild honeysuckle azales. They grow wild in the woods usually near the rivers in SC. Not sure about NC but the name Piedmont kinda tells me they are native to your area. The blooms are beautiful and have the scent of honeysuckle. They are deciduous. I was at Moore Farms in Lake City in late March and they had them in yellow and pink.
You have to mark them when they are blooming (March) then dig them up around Sept. I have never seen them in a nursery.
Check this link out-----

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2481/index.html


This message was edited May 20, 2007 1:01 PM

Woodlanders has a good number of native varieties in several different colors.

http://www.woodlanders.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.main&alphaKey=R&whichName=genus&showIntro=0

Sadly, they do not have pictures of all of them.

Speaking of which (native azaleas), early last spring I planted a deciduous azalea, Rhododendron x 'Aromi Sunny Side Up'.

It bloomed nicely and got through the summer pretty well in acid soil, part sun with quite a bit of supplemental watering.

This spring, there was only one clump of flowers on the entire plant. It looks healthy, but basically didn't bloom.
If anyone has experience with this type of azalea, I'd love some suggestions as to what I can do.
Many thanks!
Deb

Hey Deb! I've tried these things many times over the years and managed to kill all of them. One variety (from Woodlanders) survived for 3 years, but then it succumbed too. Never did flower. Got my normally alkaline soil down to 6.2-6.5 to make them happy, but they crumped anyway. Yet I've seen some natives growing happily in some of the gardens I've docented around here, so it CAN be done. I just don't know the secret. If you find out, let me know---I love those things!

StoneRiver,
Around Conway and Georgetown, you can see them in March close to the river banks. They are like undergrowth among cypress trees. That would be alot of composted material and no fertilizer. They are especially seen around Black River which get it's name from the tanic acid that is produced by the trees. Now I can only give you the information but they won't grow for me either. Someone figue this out for us. Maby nature is telling us to leave them where they are planted????

BSD: So hmmmm - I need to start a cypress swamp, or I need to divert the Black river through my back yard. :)
Seriously, though, maybe it just needs more water?
Deb

That should work, Deb!! Now that I think about it, (I'm a little slow) Moore Farms in Lake City had them near their bog garden. I have the email address for their horticulturist---I'll just ask him.

Maybe there's some symbiotic thing going on with the Cyrpress trees, BSD? Unfortunately (for me), I have planted cypress on the property (both T. distichum, and T. ascendens), so now I have to try another experiment---plant the little darlings under the cypress trees. I thought I was pretty much done with native azaleas! None of my earlier attempts were anywhere near the cypress, so it should be a fair trial. If it works, you're a genius, BSD...if it doesn't, oh well, ya gotta keep trying! Will plant them in the fall...

Thanks BSD!
Stono: I'll be interested to see how your new plan works out. :)
Deb

Deb; I had mine planted in an "ideal" area according to everything I'd read on the species. Right light, right soil, right ph, right everything that I could control. They were on a drip sytem that I varied up the scale for each plant---one got 1, 1/gal/hr dripper, the next got 2, 1 gal/hr drippers etc., up to a "bubbler" which saturated the ground. They all crumped equally effectively. I was trying to determine the real water needs of this plant in the low country. Not sure water is the answer, or one of those suckers would have survived! It may just be that Mother Nature knows best, and she doesn't want them in the low country. But then, how to explain all the ones that are growing here? Gonna try the "cypress experiment" this fall....

I have one, out of about a dozen, surviving and after about 5 years it even looks OK. But that's it folks. Those things are too expensive to keep fussing over.

LOL I have a place in Kennel's Beach around the corner from you. I would check with some of the neighbors in the area and they will probably let you dig some of them up.

Lavina

I hear you, ardesia! That's right where I was until BSD reared the tannic acid possibility. I hate failure of any kind, but these native azaleas flat beat me. I couldn't get ONE of them to grow. Regardles of all the TLC in the world. I'll put one under the T.distichum (bright light, but almost no direct sunlight, semi-boggy soil), one under T.ascendans (some direct sunlight, at the edge of a pond, and one in the original planting area. But this is it for native azaleas!