Click here to see the Pinterest board of the best orange varieties!
We’ve all got our favorite color, that one that just seems to “pop” for us more than all the others. For me, that color is orange; nothing seems quite so vibrant as a bright orange bloom on a sunny day. Whenever I come across a particularly beautiful orange specimen, I just think about how good it would look in a whole orange arrangement. That’s why I put together this garden design to serve as a planner for myself and the other orange-aholics out there.
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Around here many of us tend to think of Azaleas as a feature primarily of Southern gardens. Maybe that's because Azaleas are so closely associated with the Masters Golf Tournament (which is played just sixty miles from our Greenwood, South Carolina home), or it could be that many Southerners occasionally assume that anything that they really like must come from the South. Either way, one thing that I can tell you for sure is that hardy Azaleas are becoming a more and more popular choice outside of the Deep South, and for good reason. They're the perfect low-maintenance flowering shrub for just about any part-shade area that isn't exposed to harsh winds. They flower heavily for weeks, usually only need one deep watering a week in drought, and require no pruning to flower. Many are evergreen, and some, such as the Azalea 'Golden Lights,' thrive all the way to zone 4.
Plant your Azalea bushes shallow. Their root structures are shallow, and they won't do well too deep. A good rule of thumb is to just plant them to the same depth as the nursery had them. They like loose, well-drained soil, so if you're planting them in clay or hard-pack, dig some of that up and add compost, peat, or sand to the soil. Because the roots are shallow, give them some room without competition. 
Azaleas prefer acidic soil, so if your soil is neutral or alkaline, you would do well to add a bit of sulfer to it to bring that pH up (you're looking for a little over 4.5). Also, if you're planting them next to a lot of cement, keep an eye on your pH from time to time, as the cement breaking down can add lime to the soil. Azaleas do best with mulch down to protect them from the cold in winter and to retain some moisture in the summer. Around here pine straw is the most common mulch used with Azaleas. It provides great protection, it's inexpensive, it looks natural, and it breaks down enough that it will usually do all the fertilizing that your Azalea bushes need. You shouldn't need to prune your Azaleas except to shape it to your liking or if it happens to get a dead branch, but if you do prune it do so in the middle or late summer, after the shrub is done flowering. July is probably best for most areas. Do not prune later than the end of July unless you have to, as once the weather starts to cool the shrub starts producing its buds for next year's flowers.
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In the next couple of months, as the weather cools, the time for planting those shrubs and trees will come. And rhododendrons and azaleas are some of Americas favorite garden shrubs. If you are planning on ordering a new azalea this year, here are just a few planting tips to keep in mind so your shrubs will have a great start this fall planting season.
The first step when planting any new addition to you garden is to choose an appropriate site. Pick a spot that is not exposed to drying winds or all-day sun that may lead to scorched leaves. If you live in an especially hot and dry area, your plant will probably do best in partial shade. Rhododendrons need large amounts of moisture, but they should not stay wet. A light, well-draining soil is best, rich in organic matter like compost or leaf mold. The soil should also be slightly acidic.
Like most other hardy shrubs, Rhododendrons can be planted almost any time of the year, as long as the ground is not frozen, with early spring and early fall being the preferred times to plant. Dig a hole about 3 times as wide as the root ball and just deep enough to cover it. If needed, amend organic material into the soil before replacing it, and mound up a nice mulch on top to control moisture and temperature extremes.
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Winter’s icy mitts still have a stranglehold on most of the country, and countless gardeners are tapping their feet and wearing out their gardening catalogs. So, for those of you itching to get some green on your hands, here’s a little late-winter project that will brighten your home!
You are going to have to prune your trees anyway, so why not clip off a few nice branches with some plump buds and bring them in the house. You can force these branches to bloom and bring a little springtime ambiance into the abysmal botanical breach of winter.
This is a simple little project that anyone can do, at least that’s what the Wayside Gardens Horticulturist said. After your blooming trees have had time to overcome dormancy, usually around 8 weeks of winter weather, cut off a few branches that are a good length for displaying indoors, a foot or more. Make sure you get pieces with plenty of buds, and you will know when it’s time to cut them because the buds will have started to swell. Make sure you cut the ends at a slight angle to ensure your branches will take up water.
As soon as you get them inside, put the ends in some water, and, if possible, submerge the whole branches overnight in a tub or sink to further force them out of dormancy. For the first few days keep the ends in a bucket of water in a cool place like a garage and make sure to keep misting the branches, keeping them covered with light plastic or burlap to maintain high levels of moisture. Change your water if it starts to look cloudy to prevent your branches from rotting.
After a week or so, when your flower buds are starting to bloom and show color, you should go ahead and set them out for display. Do not put them in full sunlight or a really warm area because they may dry up and you will lose your blossoms. Put them in a bright area and make sure they stay in a container with clean water, and they should last for a while. Moving them to a cooler place at night will also prolong their lifespan.
A list of shrubs and trees that you might want to try this with:
- Magnolia
- Hazel
- Apple
- Cherry
- Pear
- Wisteria
- Puince
- Forsythia
- mockorange
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The Encores are on everyone’s list these days, and why not? They are fantastic houseplants, sending out blooms almost every month of the year if kept indoors properly. (Speaking of Scots, this year-round bloom business reminds me of Miss Walker of Drumsheugh. She felt about plants the way her fellow Victorians seemed to feel about children: why stop at just one or two if you can have a dozen? Now, Rhododendrons were streaming into Britain at this time, so Miss Walker could have stocked her considerable garden with many, many more. But she “restrained” herself to about 50, choosing them carefully to assure herself of having at least one in bloom every month of the year! This was in 1860, no less, and here we are nearly 150 years later, still limiting our gardens to spring bloomers with the occasional fall rebloomer! –Of course, Miss Walker had a few pennies to rub together, and a lovely conservatory, and plenty of staff, and leisure time — all those perks of a bygone age!)
But back to modern times. The Encores are absolutely priceless for gardeners who can’t bear to see the end of those spring blooms: they should grow several indoors for yearround beauty and more in the garden, where they send out a few summer blossoms and then fully bloom again in autumn.
Beyond the Encores, we carry a good line of many of the major groups: the Exburys, Leaches, Robin Hills, and even a Tony Shammarello and a bonsai Satsuki. For customers looking for cold-hardiness, Golden Lights is absolutely the best. It’s hardy into zone 4, and was bred in Minnesota, so you can imagine it’s felt a chill or two. This Azalea is one of the many bred from Northern Lights, and we chose it because it’s easily the most mildew-resistant and among the most fragrant. Now, the Robin Hill Hybrids are good for the north too because they bloom much later than others. Betty Anne Voss is a big favorite because the blooms are large and double, and the habit is semi-weeping. But my personal favorite will always be Hilda Niblett. There’s something about that ground-hugging habit just covered in big peach and white blooms that does it for me.
For those with the opposite problem — too much heat, with its attendant evil of mildew — the classic Exbury Gibraltar is the best choice through zone 8. And Betty Anne Voss goes into zone 9 with great vigour. Yaku Princess, a Tony Shammarello hybrid, is simply one of the hardiest Rhododendrons of all, and its densely set, evergreen habit is a year-round pleasure. I would recommend it for north and south alike, including “difficult” climates where other cultivars may not have been successful.
For those looking for a longer season of bloom, aside from the Encores, the David Leach hybrids are to be recommended. Everything about these cultivars is top drawer, from flower size to hardiness to colour — look at the colour of Trinidad! And Capistrano is the clearest, purest yellow in the entire family, I believe. These are rugged shrubs bred by perhaps the best modern Rhododendron plantsman of all. (I mustn’t shun those intrepid Victorian plant-hunters!)
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What’s the most common mistake folks make? Pruning in fall. You might think it would be safe, because these shrubs bloom in late spring, but they set their new buds right about now, and if you lop them off, you’ll get nothing next spring. Most horticulturalists will tell you the cutoff date is July 31; in warm climates you can push it a bit, but absolutely not into September.
That said, sometimes any plant needs an emergency trim. You should never hesitate to prune your azalea or rhododendron — or anything else, come to it — if you see dead or infected wood. Cut well below the damaged part and get the branch out of the garden pronto. If you keep a stack of garden debris for burning, all the better. Just don’t put it on the compost heap, or the disease might spread to your new soil.
Now, many an azalea and rhodie have gone their whole lives without ever being pruned, and this is just fine. They don’t need it to stimulate bud production, and most are pretty nicely shaped just as they are. But sometimes they outgrow their spot and you don’t want to move them. Other times you have to move them, in which case you should do a root prune if you possibly can. More about that in a sec.
Here are some general guidelines for pruning these shrubs:
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