Rhododendron flammeum "Florence"

'Florence' is a robust selection, possibly a hybrid, of the native Oconee azalea, Rhododendron flammeum, chosen and named by our friend Charles Webb of Superior Trees in Florida. The name honors Florence, Mr. Webb's wife, and both have long been good friends of ours. The plant traces back further still, to a group of azaleas that came originally from the late Aaron Varnadoe of Colquitt, Georgia, who collected, propagated, and shared so many fine native azaleas across the South.

In spring 'Florence' opens large terminal clusters of bright orange flowers, tubular and long-stamened, blazing against the fresh green of the emerging leaves. The Oconee azalea is one of the great fire-colored native azaleas of the Piedmont, and the species name flammeum means flaming, for exactly this display. Unlike the pink native azaleas, the Oconee azalea and its selections are grown for pure color rather than scent, since the flowers carry little to no fragrance.

In the wild the Oconee azalea grows on the dry slopes, woodlands, and stream bluffs of the Piedmont across Georgia and South Carolina, taking the common name from the Oconee country of Georgia. Long admired in Southern gardens for spring spectacle, the plant belongs to the eye and never the table: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar carry grayanotoxins and are not edible. The flowers feed the season's hummingbirds, butterflies, and native bees.

Reaching six to eight feet with an upright, rounded frame, 'Florence' brings vivid orange to the woodland edge, a native border, or a planting among high pines where the color can carry. Give morning sun or filtered light, an acidic, well-drained soil enriched with pine bark or leaf mold, and a cool mulch over the shallow roots. Because pure orange is uncommon and unscented azaleas hold their color so cleanly, the shrub pairs beautifully with pink and white native azaleas that carry fragrance, and with ferns and native phlox for a layered spring.