Encore Azaleas
Keeping Your Encore Azaleas Happy Year Round
The creation of encore azaleas was a long time in the making, as told by Robert Lee after his 15 years of trial and error leading to the beautiful shrubs that he offered to the world in 1997. By crossing the typical summer azalea with a Taiwanese rhododendron, he developed this spectacular evergreen shrub which bloomed at least three times each year, namely the spring, summer, and fall. he has since developed twenty-nine variations of encore azaleas, some gaining over 5 feet in height, and others spreading quickly across the ground in a beautiful cover. It will not bloom constantly, but will rest between intense, profuse flowering cycles just long enough to gain their energy back for the next big show. Starting your encore azaleas will take a tad bit of fussing, but once they are established you should have very little care to take.
From the most poignant purples to deep scarlet, and nearly every shade in between, encore azaleas are available in the same pallet as are their parent plants, though their growth habits will vary a bit more. Some of these prized shrubs will tower in a stark show of flowers within two years of planting, while others will spread across the ground in a blanket of wonderment within the same amount of time. Depending on the type of encore azaleas you choose to enjoy, you will need to take the surrounding landscape into consideration, as they may either smother or shade your other favorites if they are planted in the wrong place. If you have clay soil, you will first want to beef it up with some natural compost, and then mound it for better aeration and drainage. Your encore azaleas will show their appreciation for your efforts in no time at all.
These are not shade plants, as are most of the parent azaleas, so be sure that your encore azaleas will have access to at least 6 hours of full sunlight per day. Plants gain their energy from photosynthesis, and these guys need an awful lot of it in order to perform their magic. Also, unlike most shrubs that need to be constantly sheered and pruned back, these evergreens will not do well when cut back excessively. If you are using your encore for a bonsai project, you will gradually shape and train it, and it will most likely respond very well. But outdoors, particularly with the larger varieties, very little pruning needs to be done.
Throughout the first year of the transplant, your encore azaleas will need constant watering and monitoring, and you should try to keep a good feed stick or organic additive available to them in their soil territory, but after they are established you will only need to water your prized flowering shrub during periods of extreme dryness.