{"title":"Azalea \u0026 Rhododendron","description":"\u003cp\u003eAzaleas and rhododendrons are two branches of a single great genus, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron\u003c\/em\u003e, woody shrubs of acid, woodland soil grown above all for their spring flower. Between them they run from low, twiggy, deciduous azaleas, many of them fragrant Southern natives, to bold evergreen rhododendrons with large leaves and full trusses of bloom. What unites them is the flower: massed, vivid, and, at the peak, almost total.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the landscape they are woodland-edge plants, happiest in the dappled light and cool, humus-rich soil beneath high trees. Grown in drifts they turn a shaded slope or border into a wall of spring color; grown singly they punctuate a bed and, in the evergreen kinds, hold structure and leaf year-round. Their season is short and spectacular, so they are best sited among plants that carry interest before and after the bloom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe grow azaleas and rhododendrons because they are central to the character of the Southern garden, and because the native azaleas in particular are treasures: fragrant, graceful, and deeply valuable to wildlife. Their flowers feed early pollinators, including the butterflies and native bees that emerge with the spring, and the shrubs themselves shelter the small life of the woodland edge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGive them acid, moist, well-drained soil, part shade, and a mulch of leaf litter, and never let them dry out or bake in full sun. Plant them with our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/camellias\"\u003eCamellias\u003c\/a\u003e for a classic acid-soil, four-season planting, underplant with our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/ferns\"\u003eFerns\u003c\/a\u003e, and find the native kinds among our \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/southeast-natives\"\u003eSoutheastern Natives\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"rhododendron-chapmanii","title":"Rhododendron chapmanii","description":"\u003cp\u003eChapman's rhododendron is a compact evergreen shrub of six to eight feet, carrying small, thick, distinctly rounded leaves in a light green, with margins that roll under slightly at the edge. In late spring the plant opens clusters of rose-pink flowers, funnel-shaped and freely borne, and the effect on a well-grown specimen is generous rather than sparse. Set beside the closely related \u003cem\u003eRhododendron minus\u003c\/em\u003e, this plant reads lighter and rounder in the leaf, and most authorities now treat the two as one species, filing this one as \u003cem\u003eRhododendron minus\u003c\/em\u003e var. \u003cem\u003echapmanii\u003c\/em\u003e. We keep the name under which gardeners and native-plant people know the plant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat sets Chapman's rhododendron apart horticulturally is heat. This is a north Florida plant, native to a handful of sites in the panhandle, growing in the filtered light of sandhill and flatwoods margins, and generally reckoned more heat tolerant than any other evergreen rhododendron. For Southern gardeners who have watched catawba hybrids sulk and die through a Carolina August, that is not a small claim. The species is named for Alvan Wentworth Chapman, the nineteenth-century physician and botanist of Apalachicola whose flora of the southern states was the standard work for generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe endangered listing is a habitat story rather than a horticultural one. The wild populations are few, small, and squeezed by land conversion and by fire suppression, since this is a plant of a fire-maintained landscape that stops regenerating when the fire stops. Research published by the American Rhododendron Society established decades ago that cuttings root readily without hormone treatment, which means there has never been any good reason to lift plants from the wild for either the nursery trade or restoration work. Every plant we offer is nursery-propagated, and growing one is a real if modest contribution to keeping a scarce species in cultivation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlant Chapman's rhododendron in well-drained, sandy, acid soil in partial shade, mulch with pine straw, and water through dry spells; that is the whole of it, and the plant is less demanding than most of the genus provided the drainage is right. Never plant into heavy or wet ground. Hardy through USDA zones 6 to 9. Pair with longleaf pine, wiregrass, native azaleas and other sandhill plants, or use as a slow evergreen anchor in a shaded native border.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057968615539,"sku":"RHOD-CHAP-01G","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-947.jpg?v=1720140698"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-x-koromo-shikibu","title":"Rhododendron x 'Koromo Shikibu'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Koromo Shikibu' is the spider azalea, and there is nothing else in the genus quite like the flower. Instead of the usual funnel, each bloom splits into narrow, strap-like petals that spread apart like the legs of a starfish or a spider, lavender to purplish-pink, spotted darker at the base, and carried in such profusion in spring that the whole shrub seems to shimmer. Once seen, the flower is not forgotten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe plant is Japanese, and the exact parentage is a small mystery: often sold as a Kurume azalea, this azalea is more likely a hybrid or form of Rhododendron macrosepalum, the species that carries the spidery, split-petaled trait. The name 'Koromo Shikibu' is usually translated as a court lady's robe, koromo meaning a garment and Shikibu an old court title, though the reference is more poetic than documented. Whatever the pedigree, the American Rhododendron Society thought enough of the plant to name it Azalea of the Year in 2015.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeyond the flowers, this is a well-behaved evergreen azalea, upright and slowly spreading to three or four feet, clothed in small, hairy leaves that take on a bronze cast through the winter. As an evergreen azalea, this one is less cold-hardy than the native deciduous kinds, best from USDA zones 7 to 9 and worth a sheltered spot at the cold edge, where hard winters may thin the foliage. Give part to full shade, moist but well-drained acidic soil, and steady water.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne honest caution comes with all the azaleas: every part of the plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, so keep the shrub away from where children or livestock might browse it. Set 'Koromo Shikibu' as a specimen in a shade or woodland garden, in a mass on a shaded slope, or anywhere the strange, strappy flowers will draw a second look, and enjoy a spring show that stops visitors mid-path to ask what on earth it is.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057968844915,"sku":"RHOD-KORO-SHIK-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-1104.jpg?v=1720140701"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-x-pastel-04","title":"Rhododendron x 'Pastel #04'","description":"\u003cp\u003eA spontaneous hybrid, probably including \u003cem\u003eRhododendron alabamense\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eR. canescens\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eR. flammeum\u003c\/em\u003e, and blooming in mid-spring. Woodlanders regularly offers several numbered selections in our \"Pastel Series,\" which we introduced, and this is number four. A happy blend of colors that adds interest to any garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe parentage is worth understanding, because it explains what you get. \u003cem\u003eRhododendron alabamense\u003c\/em\u003e, the Alabama azalea, brings white flowers with a yellow blotch and a strong sweet fragrance often compared to lemon. \u003cem\u003eR. canescens\u003c\/em\u003e, the piedmont or Florida azalea, brings clouds of soft pink and a long tubular corolla with the exserted stamens that give native azaleas their spidery look. \u003cem\u003eR. flammeum\u003c\/em\u003e, the Oconee azalea of the Georgia and South Carolina piedmont, brings the hot end of the range: orange, salmon, and scarlet, and no scent to speak of. Where those three meet, the results are unpredictable, and the pastel tones that name this series are what happens when the white and pink dilute the fire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNative deciduous azaleas are among the great garden plants of the American Southeast, and they behave nothing like the evergreen Asian azaleas most people picture. These are open, airy, upright shrubs of six to ten feet, leafing out around or after bloom, going yellow to bronze in autumn and standing as a fine twiggy silhouette in winter. Flowers open before or with the new leaves and are heavily worked by swallowtails and by hummingbirds, and in the fragrant species the scent carries a remarkable distance on a still evening. Because this is a chance seedling rather than a named clone, each Pastel selection is a one-off, propagated vegetatively from a plant we liked enough to keep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlant in high filtered shade or morning sun with afternoon shade, in acid, humus-rich, well-drained soil that never dries out hard. Native azaleas are shallow-rooted and unforgiving about two things: drought and being planted too deep. Set the root ball slightly proud of the surrounding grade, mulch generously with pine straw or leaf litter, and water through dry spells for the first several years. Prune, if at all, immediately after flowering. Good with \u003cem\u003eIllicium\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eHydrangea quercifolia\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDanae racemosa\u003c\/em\u003e, ferns, and hellebores at the foot. One caution common to the whole genus: all parts are toxic if eaten, including the nectar.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057969008755,"sku":"RHOD-PAST-04-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-508.jpg?v=1720140705"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-prunifolium","title":"Rhododendron prunifolium","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis native deciduous azalea is considered one of the finest of the American Azaleas. It has orange-red to red flowers in July and August, much later than most native azaleas. It is a rare species found only in western Georgia and eastern Alabama where it grows along sandy ravines and along stream banks. It is the logo plant for the famous Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain, Georgia which has done much to preserve and popularize this species. Culture as for other native azaleas that prefer well-drained acid soil and light shade.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057969565811,"sku":"RHOD-PRUN-01G","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhododendronprunifoliumWoodlanders-6.jpg?v=1750640147"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-atlanticum","title":"Rhododendron atlanticum","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRhododendron atlanticum\u003c\/em\u003e, the coastal or dwarf azalea, is a low, colony-forming native of the open pine woods and sandy flatwoods of the mid-Atlantic and Carolina coastal plain. Unlike the tall wild azaleas of the mountains, this species stays close to the ground, often no higher than the knee, and spreads by underground runners, or stolons, into broad, drifting colonies. The bluish, glaucous foliage is a hallmark, cool and sea-gray, and the species name atlanticum simply marks the plant's home along the Atlantic seaboard. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek; azalea comes from azaleos, meaning dry, a fitting root for a shrub of sandy, well-drained ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn April, before or just as the new leaves unfold, the shrub covers itself in rounded clusters of white flowers, often flushed pink in the bud and along the tube, each blossom coated in sticky glands and breathing a strong, spicy, clove-like fragrance. For a plant so modest in stature, the perfume is remarkable, and a colony in full bloom can scent an entire corner of the garden. The tubular, long-stamened flowers hold a lightly waxy sheen from the glandular hairs that cover them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe coast azalea belongs to the same beloved tribe of Southern bush honeysuckles grown for fragrance rather than food, and the usual caution applies: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar hold grayanotoxins and are not edible for people or pets. Deer, unfortunately, do not read the warning and will browse the plant, so a colony may need protection where deer pressure runs high. The flowers, meanwhile, feed early butterflies, native bees, and the first hummingbirds of spring.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe low, suckering habit makes the coast azalea a natural for the front of a woodland border, a sandy bank, or a naturalistic groundcover-scale drift beneath high pines, where the glaucous blue-gray foliage reads beautifully against darker greens. Give partial shade or morning sun, sharp drainage, and an acidic, sandy or organic soil that stays evenly moist without staying wet. Shelter the plant from harsh winter wind and late frost, mulch the shallow roots, and let the colony knit together over time among ferns, wiregrass, and other native azaleas for a fragrant, low tapestry in spring.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057969729651,"sku":"RHOD-ATLA-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-483.jpg?v=1720140716"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum","title":"Rhododendron austrinum","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, the Florida azalea, is among the earliest and most powerfully fragrant of all the wild deciduous azaleas of the Deep South. Native to the Florida Panhandle, southern Georgia, southern Alabama, and into Mississippi, the species haunts open pine woods, ravine slopes, and river bluffs, often growing in sandy, acidic ground beneath tall longleaf pines. The species name austrinum simply means southern, a fitting label for an azalea so at home in the Gulf Coast heat, and the genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn late March and April, well ahead of most garden azaleas and often before the new leaves unfold, the shrub bursts into rounded trusses of tubular, long-stamened flowers in a warm range from clear gold through honey-yellow to orange and apricot. The fragrance is remarkable, a sweet, spicy perfume that carries far on a still spring morning, and the flowers arrive so early that they feed the first returning hummingbirds and the season's earliest butterflies and native bees. Tall and open in habit, reaching twelve to fifteen feet with age, the Florida azalea becomes a small flowering tree in an old planting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Florida azalea has done more than perfume Southern woods; the species stands behind a great many of the region's finest garden azaleas. Breeders from Dr. Eugene Aromi to the Dodd nurseries reached again and again for austrinum to lend heat tolerance, early bloom, and fragrance to their hybrids, so this wild shrub is in many ways the taproot of Deep South azalea horticulture. Like all of the wild azaleas, though, the plant is grown for beauty rather than the table: every Rhododendron carries grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten by people or animals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the garden the Florida azalea wants the conditions of the native pinewoods: dappled light or morning sun with afternoon shade, and a moist but sharply drained, acidic soil enriched with pine bark or leaf mold. Give the shrub room to rise and arch, at the back of a woodland border, along a shaded drive, or among high pines where the early gold can glow against bare branches. The fragrance rewards a spot near a path, porch, or window, and the plant combines beautifully with later native azaleas, ferns, and evergreen backdrops of Illicium or holly that set off the spring color.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"1 Gallon","offer_id":43985848926323,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-01G","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"3 Gallon","offer_id":43985848959091,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-03G","price":44.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-484.jpg?v=1720140722"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-calendulaceum","title":"Rhododendron calendulaceum","description":"\u003cp\u003eFlame azalea is the showiest of all the native azaleas, and the one that stops hikers in their tracks on the Appalachian balds each June. The large, funnel-shaped flowers open in a fiery range that runs from clear yellow through gold and apricot to blazing orange and scarlet, carried in loose trusses just as the new leaves expand. For all that color the flowers are, unusually, without scent, but nothing about a flame azalea in full bloom feels the lack.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Latin calendulaceum means marigold-colored, for those orange and gold flowers, and the wide, weakly scented blooms have an unusual pollinator to match. Research on flame azalea found that the flowers are effectively pollinated by large butterflies, above all the eastern tiger swallowtail, which carries pollen on its wings from bloom to bloom, one of the very few plants anywhere known to be pollinated this way. Hummingbirds and bees visit too, but the swallowtail does the real work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlame azalea is a mountain plant, and honesty requires saying so plainly. Native to the higher elevations of the southern Appalachians, the species wants cool, moist, acidic, humus-rich but well-drained soil and resents summer heat, growing more slowly and never quite hitting its stride in the hot, humid Deep South, and is best from USDA zones 5 to 7. Give the plant part shade to sun with cool roots, a woodland edge or a north-facing slope, and the reward is that unmatched late-spring bloom followed by yellow, bronze, and red fall color.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne honest caution comes with the beauty: like all the azaleas and rhododendrons, every part of the plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, and even honey made from the nectar can be toxic, so site the shrub away from where children or livestock might browse it. Grown well, flame azalea is a treasure for a woodland garden, a native or pollinator planting, or a shaded border, a loose, upright shrub of four to ten feet that earns its place with the most spectacular flowers of any azalea on the continent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePhotos courtesy of Alan Cressler\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057970286707,"sku":"RHOD-CALE-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhododendroncalendulaceumAlanCressler.jpg?v=1784338010"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-atlanticum-x-austrinum-pale-yellow","title":"Rhododendron atlanticum x austrinum (Pale Yellow)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis fragrant deciduous azalea is a garden cross between two native species, the low, glaucous-leaved coast azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron atlanticum\u003c\/em\u003e, and the golden Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e. From the first parent the hybrid inherits sweet fragrance and cool foliage; from the second, warmth of color and vigor. The result, selected here for pale, clear yellow flowers, blends the best of both, and where the ranges of the two species meet along the Southern coastal plain, such crosses occasionally arise in the wild as well.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn April, early in the native-azalea season, the shrub opens fragrant clusters of soft, clear yellow flowers, tubular and long-stamened in the honeysuckle manner of the wild azaleas. The color is gentler than the fiery orange-golds of many austrinum selections, a pale, buttery yellow that reads softly in dappled light and carries a sweet perfume through the spring garden. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek, while azalea derives from azaleos, meaning dry, an old reference to the well-drained woodland these shrubs prefer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike both parents, the hybrid belongs to the group of Southern native azaleas long grown as bush honeysuckles for scent and spring color. And like all of them, the shrub is for the eye and the nose rather than the table: every Rhododendron carries grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar, and none should be eaten. The flowers instead feed the early pollinators, drawing butterflies, native bees, and returning hummingbirds to the season's first nectar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore compact than a full-sized austrinum, reaching perhaps six to seven feet with a balanced, informal frame, this pale yellow azalea suits a woodland border, a lightly shaded bed, or a naturalistic planting where soft color and fragrance matter more than bold contrast. Give filtered sun or morning light with afternoon shade, and a moist, acidic, well-drained soil enriched with pine bark or leaf mold. Mulch the shallow roots, and combine the shrub with ferns, native phlox, and other native azaleas timed to open in sequence, so the soft yellow of April gives way to the whites and oranges that follow.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057970450547,"sku":"RHOD-ATLA-X-AUST-01G","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/IMG_4372.jpg?v=1787256678"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-flammeum-speciosum","title":"Rhododendron flammeum (speciosum)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Oconee azalea is the flame azalea of the lowlands, and for a Southern gardener that difference matters. Where the mountain flame azalea pines for cool Appalachian summers, this Piedmont cousin was born to the heat, thriving in the clay hills and stream bluffs of middle Georgia and South Carolina and taking the humidity of the Deep South in stride. The reward is the same fire in the flower: bright orange to orange-red trusses, sometimes shading to salmon or gold, opening in mid-spring.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Latin flammeum means flame-colored, and the older name speciosum means showy, and both fit. The funnel-shaped flowers are non-fragrant, in the way of the orange-red azaleas, but they need no scent to draw a crowd: swallowtails and other large butterflies work the trusses, hummingbirds hover among them, and the specialist bee Andrena cornelli times its whole life to the bloom. Oconee azalea takes the common name from the Oconee country of the Georgia Piedmont.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGive the Oconee azalea the classic azalea site adjusted for the South: part shade or dappled light, and moist but sharply drained, acidic, humus-rich soil, and the plant settles into a rounded shrub of six to eight feet. Hardy through USDA zones 6 to 9 and genuinely heat-tolerant, this is one of the best native azaleas for a hot-climate garden, blooming better with a little shade and asking only that the roots never bake or drown.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne honest caution rides along with the beauty: like all the azaleas and rhododendrons, every part of the plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, so site the shrub away from where children or livestock might browse it. Grown well, Oconee azalea is a treasure for a woodland garden, a native or pollinator planting, or a part-shade border, a heat-proof native that brings mountain-azalea fire to gardens where the true mountain species would sulk.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057970516083,"sku":"RHOD-FLAM-SPEC-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/Rhododendronflammeum_speciosum.jpg?v=1784338642"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-canescens","title":"Rhododendron canescens","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRhododendron canescens\u003c\/em\u003e, the Piedmont azalea, is very likely the most widespread of all the wild deciduous azaleas of the Southeast, ranging through the Piedmont, coastal plain, and stream edges from the mid-Atlantic to the Gulf. Country people have long called the plant the Southern pinxter or simply wild honeysuckle, for the sweet, honeysuckle-like scent of the flowers. The species name canescens means becoming gray or hoary, a reference to the soft gray down that coats the undersides of the leaves and the new growth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn early spring, often before the leaves, the shrub opens clusters of fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers in pale pink to white, each bloom carrying long, gracefully curving stamens that reach out to passing hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. The fragrance drifts through the still-bare woods like a quiet benediction, and because the plant blooms so early it lights up shady margins while the canopy is still opening overhead. Summer leaves mature to deep green and turn burgundy red in autumn, a second, quieter season of color.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Piedmont azalea is a true creature of the Southern woods, spreading gently by root suckers into soft, drifting colonies that bloom in chorus each spring, never invasively. Grown for generations as a bush honeysuckle for scent and spring color, the plant belongs to the eye and the nose rather than the table: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar carry grayanotoxins and are not edible. Because canescens is so widespread and so willing, the species readily hybridizes with other native azaleas blooming nearby, which is part of what makes the wild Southern azaleas so endlessly varied.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpright, open, and multi-stemmed, reaching six to fifteen feet in time with a spread to match, the Piedmont azalea naturalizes beautifully at the woodland edge, in an understory planting, or in a loose native drift. Give dappled or filtered shade, a moist but well-drained, acidic soil rich in humus, and a cool mulch, keeping in mind that the plant resents soggy ground even as it loves moisture. Combine with ferns, native phlox, and other deciduous azaleas for a fragrant, layered spring. Additional photos courtesy of Alan Cressler and Sally and Andy Wasowski.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"1 Gallon","offer_id":43218498191475,"sku":"RHOD-CANE-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"3 Gallon","offer_id":43218498224243,"sku":"RHOD-CANE-03G","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhododendroncanescensSAWasowskiWoodlanders1.jpg?v=1753481303"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-bakeri-x-viscosum","title":"Rhododendron bakeri x viscosum","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis native azalea is a hybrid of two well-loved wild species, the Cumberland azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron bakeri\u003c\/em\u003e, of the southern Appalachians, and the swamp azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron viscosum\u003c\/em\u003e, of wet woodland edges across the East. From the Cumberland azalea the cross takes warm color and a rounded, ball-shaped truss; from the swamp azalea, whose name viscosum means sticky, for the glandular, clammy surface of the flowers, the hybrid takes adaptability to humid ground and a late season of bloom. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers open in warm peachy-salmon tones, funnel-shaped and gathered in rounded clusters, blending the reddish fire of the Cumberland azalea with the softer coloring of the swamp azalea parent. Bloom comes late, from late spring into summer, after most native azaleas have finished, so the shrub carries color into the quieter weeks of the season. These blossoms are grown chiefly for that warm late color rather than for strong scent, though a faint sweetness can linger from the swamp-azalea side.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe swamp azalea parentage gives this hybrid real adaptability, an unusual tolerance for damp, humid, even seasonally wet ground that defeats many azaleas, though the plant still wants drainage at the root. Like all of the wild azaleas, the shrub is grown for flower and form and never for eating: every Rhododendron carries grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be tasted by people or pets. The late flowers feed pollinators when little else in the shade garden is blooming.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCompact and upright at six to eight feet, this hybrid suits the woodland garden, a moist shaded border, or the edge of a rain garden or pond where damp ground would trouble other shrubs. Give partial shade, morning sun with afternoon relief, and a moist, acidic, well-drained soil rich in organic matter, with a cool mulch over the shallow roots. The dark green summer leaves take on attractive fall color, and the plant combines well with ferns, summersweet, and other moisture-loving natives for a long, layered season.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057971400819,"sku":"RHOD-BAKE-X-VISC-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-1046.jpg?v=1720140743"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-linearifolium","title":"Rhododendron stenopetalum 'Linearifolium'","description":"\u003cp\u003eA three-hundred-year-old Japanese garden azalea that does not look quite like a rhododendron, does not look quite like an azalea, and does not really look like anything else. The leaves are narrow green ribbons, three to five millimeters wide and a couple of inches long, closer to willow or fine grass than to the broad rounded foliage of an ordinary tsutsuji. The flowers, opening in late April and May, follow the same grammar: deeply divided into long strap-like petals in lilac-pink to lavender-rose, tangled and knotted at first, then unfurling slowly into a shape that reads, depending on the eye, as a crane fly, a spider, or a piece of decorative garnish. Wabi-sabi made evergreen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is one of the great oddities of Japanese horticulture. Azaleas have been bred and refined in Japan since at least the Kamakura period of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and selected in earnest through the Edo era; Japan's first book devoted to azaleas, Kinshu Makura, or A Brocade Pillow, appeared in 1692 and codified hundreds of named kinds. 'Linearifolium' is a survivor of that old tradition, a sport chosen and propagated entirely by gardeners, never found in the wild, and alive today only because someone, centuries ago, judged this strange version worth keeping. The Japanese name Seigai Tsutsuji, blue-sea azalea, catches the rippling effect the fine foliage makes in a mass.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe plant has been shuffled through three Latin names over the years, first Rhododendron linearifolium, then R. macrosepalum 'Linearifolium', and now, correctly, R. stenopetalum 'Linearifolium', though the shrub still circulates in the trade under all three. Growth is slow, eventually reaching three or four feet, with a soft, slightly tousled shape that takes kindly to pruning into something more architectural or can be left loose for a quieter effect. The leaves hold through mild winters, often taking on wine-red tones in the cold months before returning to mid-green in spring.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not a plant for filling space. This is a plant for the spot where a visitor should slow down and look closely: the corner of a courtyard, a Japanese-style bed, the foot of a stone lantern, beside a bench or a teahouse, anywhere proximity rewards attention. The fine, almost pine-needle texture reads beautifully against the broad leaves of camellias, hostas, or a Japanese maple, and a single specimen carries more interest than a whole bed of ordinary shrubs. Give part shade, acidic, humus-rich, well-drained soil, and shelter from hot afternoon sun that can scorch the narrow leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA fine next step for the gardener who already grows a couple of the broad-leaved azaleas and is ready to move beyond them, and a plant seldom offered, since cuttings root slowly and grudgingly even for skilled propagators. Photos courtesy of Joanna Kossak.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057971826803,"sku":"RHOD-LINE-01G","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhododendronlinearifoliumRHSWoodlanders1.jpg?v=1748267765"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-periclymenoides-purple","title":"Rhododendron periclymenoides 'Purple'","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmong the most beloved of the eastern wild azaleas, Rhododendron periclymenoides drifts through the open woods and swamp margins of the eastern United States from New Hampshire and Massachusetts south to South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, opening clouds of pink bloom just as the woodland wakes in spring. This selection breaks from the ordinary pink of the species: a soft lavender-purple color form discovered in Lancaster County, South Carolina, and introduced by Woodlanders, uncommon in the wild and rarer still in cultivation. Botanists once filed the species under the name Rhododendron nudiflorum, and the plant still answers to that older label in many an old garden book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe names carry their own small history. The species epithet periclymenoides means resembling Periclymenum, the European honeysuckle, a nod to the slender, long-tubed flowers and their sweet, petunia-like scent, and the old common names wild honeysuckle and purple honeysuckle follow the same thought. Pinxterbloom, the name most often heard, comes from the Dutch Pinksteren, or Pentecost, the late-spring feast that arrives just as the flowers do; Dutch settlers of the Hudson Valley named the shrub for the season that announced them. The flowers open before or with the unfurling leaves, each blossom trailing stamens nearly twice the length of the corolla, so a shrub in full bloom reads as a haze of pale lavender rather than a mass of solid color.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor all the delicacy, pinxterbloom azalea does hard ecological work. The early nectar feeds returning hummingbirds and the first swallowtails, and the foliage is a documented larval host for dozens of butterflies and moths, so a single shrub anchors a great deal of spring life. Gardeners should know the plant is much loved by deer as well, and browsing pressure can run heavy where herds are large. As with all azaleas, every part carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, so the shrub is one to enjoy for scent and color rather than for any use in the kitchen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSite this azalea where the fragrance can be met in passing, at a woodland edge, along a shaded path, or in a naturalistic native border, and give the cool, moist, acidic, humus-rich soil that dogwoods, mountain laurel, and blueberries share. The stoloniferous roots knit slowly into a loose, well-mannered colony over the years, lovely drifted among ferns, native phlox, and other spring woodlanders, or set against darker evergreens that throw the lavender bloom forward. Morning sun with afternoon shade suits the plant best in the South, and a pine-straw mulch keeps the shallow roots cool. For the collector of native azaleas, the unusual color and the Woodlanders provenance make this a quietly special thing to grow.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057972252787,"sku":"RHOD-PERI-PURP-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-498.jpg?v=1720140758"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-periclymenoides","title":"Rhododendron periclymenoides","description":"\u003cp\u003ePinxterbloom is the wild azalea of the eastern woods, a hardy native that hangs its soft pink flowers along the branches in mid-spring, just before the leaves catch up. The funnel-shaped blooms, pale pink to nearly white, throw long curving stamens well past the petals, giving the whole shrub a hazy, spidery lightness, and carry a faint sweet scent on a warm day. Few native shrubs say spring so plainly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe names are a small history lesson. Dutch colonists in old New Netherland called the shrub pinxterbloom, after Pinkster, their word for Pentecost, the Whitsun season when the flowers open, and the plant has answered to it ever since. Gardeners also call it wild honeysuckle, and both the folk name and the botanical epithet periclymenoides, meaning honeysuckle-like, point to the resemblance of the long-tubed flowers, though pinxterbloom is no relation at all to true honeysuckle. The old name nudiflorum, naked-flowered, remembered the bloom that comes before the leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA plant of the Appalachians, the Piedmont, and the coastal woods from New England to Georgia, pinxterbloom is among the hardiest of the native azaleas, dependable through USDA zones 4 to 8. The shrub suckers gently into a loose colony four to eight feet high, and asks for the usual native-azalea comforts: light or dappled shade, and moist but well-drained, acidic, humus-rich soil. Close kin to the sweeter-scented Piedmont azalea, Rhododendron canescens, pinxterbloom carries the family north and blooms a little more quietly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne honest caution: like all the azaleas and rhododendrons, every part of the plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, so keep the shrub away from where children or livestock might browse it. Otherwise pinxterbloom is an easy, generous native for a woodland garden, a shaded border, a streambank, or a pollinator planting, where the pink spring flowers feed swallowtails, hummingbirds, and bees at the very start of the season.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057972383859,"sku":"RHOD-PERI-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-1421.jpg?v=1720140760"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-x-pastel-casille","title":"Rhododendron x Pastel 'Casille'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Casille' arose spontaneously, a chance hybrid among three of the southeastern native azaleas: the white, lemon-scented Alabama azalea, Rhododendron alabamense; the fragrant pink Piedmont azalea, R. canescens; and the fiery, unscented Oconee azalea, R. flammeum. From that three-way mingling came a deciduous shrub that blooms in mid-spring in a lively pastel blend, the flowers shifting through pink, white, and soft yellow with a subtle sweetness inherited from the fragrant parents. An exclusive Woodlanders introduction, the plant was named by George Mitchell for his wife.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpontaneous hybrids like this one are part of what makes the southeastern azaleas so endlessly interesting. Where the ranges of the wild species overlap, the bees mix the pollen and nature runs experiments no breeder would think to try, and now and then a seedling appears worth naming and keeping. 'Casille' is one of those happy accidents, carrying a little of each parent, the fragrance of alabamense and canescens softened over the bright color of flammeum, and blooming in the window when the spring azalea season is at the fullest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe tricolor flowers open in mid-spring on an upright frame of six to ten feet, the pastel blend reading softer and more nuanced than any single-colored azalea, with a subtle fragrance to reward a close approach. Early bees and butterflies work the trusses. As with all azaleas, every part of the plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, so the shrub is one for spring beauty rather than any use, and best kept clear of children and livestock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrow 'Casille' as the native azaleas are grown: in a semi-shady site such as the high, filtered shade of tall pines, in acidic, well-drained soil mulched with pine needles, and with supplemental water on hand for dry spells. Site the shrub at a woodland edge or in a native border where the pastel trusses can be met at close range, and pair with other native azaleas to stretch the fragrant spring season. A one-of-a-kind Woodlanders selection with a personal story behind the name.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057972646003,"sku":"RHOD-PAST-CASI-01G","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/D547FFFA-9E1A-4E45-81F2-7962A310765C.jpg?v=1776365725"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-harrisons-red","title":"Rhododendron austrinum 'Harrison's Red'","description":"The Florida Azalea is a large growing deciduous azalea. The fragrant flowers very early and typically yellow. The flowers of this clone are a \u003cstrong\u003eunique coral color\u003c\/strong\u003e. This selection was found some years ago and introduced by Falling Waters Nursery in Chipley, Florida. Florida Azalea blooms here in South Carolina in late March-early April and is one of the best native azaleas for the Deep South. It grows well with irrigation under tall pines where soil is sandy, acidic, and well-drained. It is native to Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama.","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057972777075,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-HARR-RED-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-495.jpg?v=1720140772"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-serrulatum","title":"Rhododendron serrulatum","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe native deciduous azaleas of the southeastern United States bloom in a long relay, from the pinxters and Piedmont azaleas of March through the flame azaleas of April and May and on into July with the red of Rhododendron prunifolium. And then, once most gardeners have closed the azalea chapter for the year, Rhododendron serrulatum opens. Hammocksweet azalea is the last of the line, flowering in August and September and sometimes later still.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers are white, narrowly tubular, and carried in clusters at the stem tips long after the foliage has expanded, an arrangement easy to overlook in a catalog and impossible to overlook in a garden. On a warm, humid afternoon the fragrance arrives before the eye does, sweet and clean in the manner of honeysuckle but rounder and more complex, and carrying a surprising distance. This is the reason serious collectors of native azaleas count hammocksweet essential; whatever the flowers may lack in spring flash they repay in late-season scent, feeding hummingbirds, native bees, and sphinx moths when little else in the shrub layer is in bloom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe taxonomy is worth a sentence, since the references do not agree. Some authorities fold Rhododendron serrulatum into R. viscosum as a variety, while others hold the plant apart as a full species. Woodlanders has long argued for the latter, and the argument holds up: the two differ in habit, in flowering time, in native range, and in several botanical details. R. viscosum blooms in June and July, tops out near eight feet, and favors bogs and wet flatwoods, while R. serrulatum blooms in August and September, can rise to ten or fifteen feet, and grows in gallberry thickets, along blackwater streams, and on the slightly raised ground within a wetland that Floridians call a hammock, which is where the common name comes from. The two are close kin, but they are not the same plant, and growing both is the point.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRanging farther south than any other native deciduous azalea, deep into central Florida where few relatives follow, hammocksweet is the better adapted of the two to the heat and humidity of the Deep South. Grow the shrub at the back of a moist border, along a woodland margin, or beside a pond or rain garden, where the tall, upright, open frame gives structural presence without density and the roots find the steady moisture the plant needs. Site where the August fragrance can be caught along a path or from a seat on a summer evening, and pair with Clethra alnifolia, which overlaps in bloom and shares the taste for moist, acidic soil, for a late-summer fragrance no other pairing quite matches. Every part is poisonous if eaten, as with all azaleas, so grow the plant for scent and not for the table.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057972809843,"sku":"RHOD-SERR-01G","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-490.jpg?v=1720140774"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-flammeum-scarlet-ibis","title":"Rhododendron flammeum 'Scarlet Ibis'","description":"\u003cp\u003eA brilliant dark orange-red selection of Rhododendron flammeum (which see). A Woodlanders'introduction selected by George Mitchell. .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057973825651,"sku":"RHOD-FLAM-SCAR-IBIS-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-497.jpg?v=1720140795"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-canescens-clyo-red","title":"Rhododendron canescens 'Clyo Red'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Clyo Red' is a striking red-flowered selection of the native Piedmont azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron canescens\u003c\/em\u003e, a species usually seen in soft pink and white. Here the wild pink is deepened to a rich cherry-red, an uncommon and eye-catching tone among the native azaleas, carried on the same fragrant, early-spring frame that makes the Piedmont azalea so beloved. The name points to Clyo, a small community in Effingham County, Georgia, near the plant's Southern home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn early to mid spring, before or as the new leaves emerge, 'Clyo Red' opens clusters of five to nine funnel-shaped flowers, each an inch or two long in deep red, with pistils and stamens that arch elegantly beyond the petals. A sweet fragrance rides the spring air, unusual company for so red a flower, since most red-toned azaleas give up scent for color. Firm, dark green leaves, gray-downy beneath, follow the bloom and turn a rusty red in autumn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBehind the vivid color stands the wild Piedmont azalea, the most widespread native azalea of the Southeast and a long-cherished bush honeysuckle of Southern springs. The species name canescens means becoming gray, for the downy leaf undersides, and the genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek. As with every azalea, the shrub is grown for flower and fragrance and never the table: all Rhododendron carry grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten by people or pets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpright and reaching six to twelve feet in time, 'Clyo Red' brings rare red to the woodland edge, an understory planting, or a mixed native border where the flower color can carry. Give morning sun with afternoon shade or filtered light, a moist but well-drained, acidic soil rich in organic matter, and a cool mulch over the shallow roots. Because red is so scarce among the native azaleas, the shrub reads beautifully against pinks, whites, and yellows, and pairs well with ferns and native phlox for a layered spring.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057973956723,"sku":"RHOD-CANE-CLYO-RED-01G","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-496.jpg?v=1720140798"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-alba","title":"Rhododendron austrinum 'Alba'","description":"This is a white-flowered form of Rhododendron austrinum (which see). This \u003cstrong\u003ewhite form\u003c\/strong\u003e of the normally yellow-flowered Florida Azalea was selected by Florida plantsman Steve Riefler in northwest Florida.","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974087795,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-ALBA-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-494.jpg?v=1720140801"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-indicum-balsaminaeflorum","title":"Rhododendron indicum ‘Balsaminaeflorum’","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Balsaminaeflorum' is a dwarf evergreen Satsuki azalea, an old Japanese cultivar of \u003cem\u003eRhododendron indicum\u003c\/em\u003e grown for flowers that look less like azaleas than like tiny roses. Each bloom is fully double, packed with forty or more petals and carrying neither pistil nor stamens, so the flower is all soft, ruffled color. The cultivar name means balsam-flowered, a nod to the double blooms of the garden balsam, while indicum, meaning of India, is an old misnomer for a plant that is in fact Japanese.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers open in soft salmon-rose, late in the azalea season, from late spring into early summer, when the earlier evergreen azaleas have already faded. Because each bloom is so densely petaled and sterile, the display holds cleanly for a long stretch without setting seed. The word Satsuki means the fifth month, marking exactly this late, early-summer flowering that distinguishes the group. Small, glossy, dark green leaves clothe the plant through the year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSatsuki azaleas were bred and treasured over centuries in Japan, where dwarf, late-flowering forms like this one are favorites for low borders, courtyards, and bonsai. As with every azalea, the plant is for the eye rather than the table: all Rhododendron carry grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten by people or pets. The fully double, stamenless flowers offer little to pollinators but a great deal to the gardener's eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLow and neatly mounded at two to three feet, 'Balsaminaeflorum' suits the front of a shaded border, a foundation edge, a courtyard, or a large container, and takes happily to the patient shaping of bonsai. Give partial shade and a moist, acidic, well-drained soil, as for other evergreen azaleas, with shelter from harsh afternoon sun in the hottest gardens and a cool mulch over the shallow roots. The rose-like late flowers read beautifully against clipped evergreens, mossy stone, or the raked gravel of a Japanese-style planting.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974251635,"sku":"RHOD-INDI-BALS-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/Rhododendron_indicum_Balsaminaeflorum_Woodlanders_5.jpg?v=1731858800"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-oldhamii","title":"Rhododendron oldhamii","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis spreading open-branched evergreen azalea has dull green to yellowish-green fuzzy leaves. The deep pink to rust colored flowers may appear sporadically through summer, but typically this species flowers in the fall, which is a unique feature. Rarely offered in the U.S. this azalea is one of the parents of the now popular \"Encore\" Hybrids. It is native to Taiwan. Culture is as for other evergreen azaleas.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974349939,"sku":"RHOD-OLDH-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-513.jpg?v=1720140808"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-flame-creeper","title":"Rhododendron Flame Creeper","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Flame Creeper' is a low, spreading evergreen azalea of the Satsuki group, the Japanese evergreen azaleas prized for late bloom and bright, clear color. Rather than rising into a shrub, this selection stays close to the ground, knitting into a dense, weed-smothering carpet of small, glossy, dark green leaves that hold through the year. The name catches both the habit and the color: a creeping mat that bursts into flame each spring.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers are a vivid red-orange, single and open-faced, covering the plant in spring and early summer. After a short rest the shrub keeps sending up scattered blooms through the summer, then gives a second strong flush in late summer or early fall, so 'Flame Creeper' offers warm color across much of the season rather than a single spring burst. The word Satsuki means the fifth month, a nod to the late, early-summer timing that sets this group apart from the earlier evergreen azaleas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Satsuki azaleas were refined over centuries in Japan, where the finest forms are cherished for bonsai and for the way a single plant can carry subtly different flowers. Like all azaleas, though, this is a plant for looking rather than tasting: every Rhododendron carries grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten by people or pets. The open, single flowers do offer nectar to bees and butterflies through the long bloom season.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStanding only a foot or so tall while spreading three to five feet or more, 'Flame Creeper' is made for groundcover work: massed on a bank, spilling over a low wall, edging the front of a shrub border, or threading through a rock garden. The pliable stems can even be trained up a trellis, wall, or mailbox for a low, flowering screen. Give partial shade to full sun, an acidic, well-drained soil kept evenly moist through summer heat, and a cool mulch, and let the flowering carpet fill in over time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974415475,"sku":"RHOD-FLAM-CREE-01G","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"rhododendron-viscosum-glauca","title":"Rhododendron viscosum var. glaucum","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe glaucous swamp azalea is a native deciduous shrub of the wetland South and the eastern seaboard, a blue-leaved form of Rhododendron viscosum, the widespread swamp azalea that ranges from the Gulf Coast north into New England. The variety glaucum sets the plant apart with foliage washed in a soft blue-green, most striking on the leaf undersides, which flash pale as a breeze turns them. Where many shrubs falter, this azalea thrives in the consistently moist, even boggy ground of swamps, marshes, and stream banks.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRhododendron viscosum entered the botanical record early, described in the first half of the eighteenth century as European gardeners and naturalists took stock of the rich American azalea flora, and the swamp azalea has been part of cultivated horticulture ever since. The species carries several old common names, clammy azalea and swamp honeysuckle among them, each pointing at a real trait: the sticky, glandular hairs that coat the flower tube, and the sweet, honeysuckle-like scent that gives the shrub much of the garden value.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers open in late spring and early summer, after most azaleas have finished, in clusters of narrow white to blush trumpets clothed in glistening sticky hairs and carrying a powerful sweet, clove-like perfume. Bees, butterflies, and hovering sphinx moths work the late bloom, drawn by scent across surprising distances. As with every azalea, the whole plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, so the swamp azalea is grown for fragrance and beauty rather than for any use, and is best sited away from where livestock might browse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew shrubs solve a wet, acidic, shaded problem as gracefully. Plant the glaucous swamp azalea at a pond or stream edge, in a rain garden, in a boggy low spot, or along a moist woodland border, where the roots find the standing moisture the plant welcomes and the blue foliage cools the greens around the shrub. Full sun is tolerated where the soil stays reliably wet, though morning sun with afternoon shade suits warmer gardens best. Pair with clethra, itea, sweetbay magnolia, and native ferns, and site where the summer fragrance can be caught on the air near a path or a seat.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974481011,"sku":"RHOD-VISC-VAR-GLAU-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/Rhododendron_viscosum_glauca_Alan-Cressler.jpg?v=1742826068"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-x-kosterana-x-prinophyllum","title":"Rhododendron x kosterana x prinophyllum","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis hardy hybrid azalea is a piece of Woodlanders history, a deliberate cross made by the nursery's late founder, Robert Mackintosh. Mackintosh crossed the native roseshell azalea, Rhododendron prinophyllum, with the old hybrid group known as R. x kosterana, or mollis azalea, and the result is an upright, large-flowered deciduous shrub carrying bold orange trusses each marked with a splash of yellow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe parentage is worth telling in full, because the lineage spans three continents. The roseshell azalea is one of the most northerly and most fragrant of the American natives, a rosy-pink shrub of New England and the higher Appalachians famous for a strong cinnamon-and-clove scent. The mollis side reaches farther afield: R. x kosterana is itself a cross of the Japanese azalea, Rhododendron japonicum, with the Chinese Rhododendron molle, a parentage that lends the hot orange and yellow coloring and the large flower size. Blending a hardy, fragrant American parent with the vivid color of the Asian mollis azaleas is exactly the kind of cross a plantsman makes to get the best of both.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers open in spring on an upright frame of four to eight feet, large and showy, glowing orange with a gold flare at the throat, and set off against fresh green deciduous leaves. Early bees and butterflies work the trusses. As with every azalea, the whole plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, so the shrub is one to grow for the spring show and keep clear of children and livestock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrow the hybrid as other native and deciduous azaleas are grown: in the high, filtered shade of tall pines, at a woodland edge, or in a mixed border, where the vivid spring color can carry across the garden. Give cool, moist, acidic, well-drained soil, mulch the shallow roots with pine straw, and pair with fragrant pink and white native azaleas so the hot orange has something cool to play against. A hardy, characterful cross with a genuine Woodlanders story behind the plant.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974579315,"sku":"RHOD-KOST-PRIN-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-1329.jpg?v=1720140814"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-arborescens","title":"Rhododendron arborescens","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRhododendron arborescens\u003c\/em\u003e, the sweet or smooth azalea, is one of the hardiest and most graceful of the native white azaleas, a tall, loosely branched deciduous shrub of the eastern mountains and piedmont. The common name smooth azalea points to the hairless, glossy twigs and leaves that set the species apart from woollier kin, while sweet azalea speaks to the flowers, which pour out a rich heliotrope perfume. The species epithet arborescens is Latin for becoming tree-like, a fair description of an old plant that can reach ten to eighteen feet, and the genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn late spring and on into summer, well after most native azaleas have finished, the shrub opens clusters of pure white to faintly pink flowers, each blossom shot through with five slender red stamens and a matching red style that arch far beyond the petals. The contrast of white corolla and red filaments is the plant's signature, and the fragrance carries across the garden on a warm evening. Glossy green summer leaves turn deep burgundy and red in autumn, so the shrub earns a second season of interest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the wild the sweet azalea haunts the banks of mountain streams, sloping woodlands, and the edges of high bogs from the Appalachians down through the Carolina piedmont, often leaning out over running water. Southern gardeners have long cherished the wild azaleas as bush honeysuckles for their scent, though the old country wisdom was always to admire and never to taste: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar carry grayanotoxins and are not edible. The flowers reward a different guest, drawing swallowtail butterflies, hummingbirds, and native bees to the late-season nectar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause the sweet azalea blooms so late and grows so tall, the shrub fills a valuable niche in the shade garden, carrying fragrant white bloom into the quiet weeks after the spring rush and rising to the back of a woodland border or the middle story beneath high trees. Give moist, acidic, well-drained soil that never dries out, morning sun with afternoon shade, and a cool mulch over the shallow roots. Site the shrub near a streamside planting, a path, or a seating area where the heliotrope fragrance can be enjoyed, and pair with ferns, native phlox, and summersweet for a long, layered season.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974677619,"sku":"RHOD-ARBO-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/FE3B80A6-465E-442A-8693-83B60C2828DB.jpg?v=1783612070"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-alabamense-frosty","title":"Rhododendron alabamense 'Frosty'","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRhododendron alabamense\u003c\/em\u003e, the Alabama azalea, is one of the loveliest and, by wide agreement, one of the most powerfully fragrant of all the wild deciduous azaleas of the Southeast. The species grows in hardwood forests and along dry slopes and ridges from north-central Alabama east through western Georgia and into South Carolina, where in mid spring the woods fill with the scent of lemon. Clusters of six to ten white, funnel-shaped flowers, each marked with a clear yellow blotch and finished with long, arching stamens, open just before or alongside the emerging leaves. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek, while azalea derives from azaleos, meaning dry, a nod to the well-drained upland ground these shrubs favor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Frosty' is a named form selected years ago in southwest Georgia by Terry Greer, whose own name is sometimes attached to the plant. Cuttings came to us from our friend and fellow plant nut Dean Jolly. The selection carries the typical white, yellow-blotched, lemon-scented flowers of the species, but earns the name 'Frosty' for handsome, somewhat glaucous foliage, that cool blue-gray cast frosted over the summer leaves. Low and rounded, usually under six feet and inclined to sucker gently into a colony, the shrub keeps a tidy presence long after the flowers have passed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe wild azaleas of the Southern woods have been admired for generations as bush honeysuckles, prized for perfume and spring color rather than for any use in the kitchen or the still-room. That distinction is worth remembering: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar of 'Frosty' hold grayanotoxins and are not to be eaten by people or animals. The flowers, however, are a banquet for others, drawing in early butterflies, native bees, and the season's first hummingbirds to the sweetly scented trusses.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the garden 'Frosty' asks for the conditions of a Southern woodland edge: dappled light or morning sun with afternoon shade, and a moist but sharply drained, acidic soil laced with pine bark or leaf mold. Set the shrub where the lemon fragrance can be caught on a spring evening, near a path, a porch, or a garden bench, and let the glaucous foliage cool the greens around it through summer. The suckering habit suits a naturalistic planting among ferns, foamflower, and native phlox, or a loose drift of mixed native azaleas that stretch the bloom season from first warmth into early summer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974743155,"sku":"RHOD-ALAB-FROS-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-2071.jpg?v=1720140819"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-hybrid-stonewall-jackson","title":"Rhododendron austrinum hybrid 'Stonewall Jackson'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Stonewall Jackson' is one of the Dodd nurseries' celebrated Confederate Series of deciduous native azalea hybrids, introduced by Tom Dodd Jr. and Tom Dodd III of Semmes, Alabama. The plant is a cross between the Exbury azalea 'Hotspur Yellow' and the native Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, uniting the size and substance of the English hybrids with the fragrance and Gulf Coast toughness of the wild Southern species.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe reward is generous: large trusses of big, clear yellow flowers marked with reddish tubes and washes of red to pink, so that each cluster carries warmth and depth rather than flat color. Bloom comes in spring, tubular and long-stamened in the honeysuckle manner of the native azaleas, and a sweet fragrance drifts on the warm air. Reaching eight to ten feet with an upright, open frame, the shrub makes a strong seasonal statement in the Southern garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike the rest of the Confederate Series, 'Stonewall Jackson' leans on the native Florida azalea for heat tolerance, early bloom, and scent, the very traits that let deciduous azaleas thrive along the Gulf. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek. As with all azaleas, the plant is for the eye and the nose, not the table: every Rhododendron holds grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten by people or pets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese azaleas are fine plants for the Southern garden, best set in sandy, acidic soil with good drainage, a mulch of pine straw, and the light, high shade of tall pines. Give 'Stonewall Jackson' room to rise at the woodland edge or the back of a native border, site the shrub where the fragrance can be caught, and combine with pink and orange native azaleas, ferns, and native phlox for a layered spring show. Morning sun deepens the color while afternoon shade protects the foliage.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974841459,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-HYBR-STON-01G","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhododendronStonewallJacksonWoodlanders2.jpg?v=1743528499"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-chapmanii-x-dauricum-chapmanii-wonder","title":"Rhododendron chapmanii x dauricum 'Chapmanii Wonder'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Chapmanii Wonder' is an uncommon and rewarding evergreen rhododendron, the offspring of an inspired cross made by a Japanese breeder between two very different parents. From the endangered Florida native Chapman's rhododendron, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron chapmanii\u003c\/em\u003e, the plant inherits broadleaf evergreen foliage and Deep South heat tolerance; from the hardy white-flowered form of \u003cem\u003eRhododendron dauricum\u003c\/em\u003e, a species of northeastern Asia, the plant takes cold hardiness and early bloom. The species name dauricum points to Dauria, the region of southeastern Siberia where that parent grows wild, while chapmanii honors Alvan Wentworth Chapman, the nineteenth-century botanist of the Southern flora.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn early spring the shrub covers itself in bright lavender to pinkish-purple flowers, an early and generous display that arrives while much of the garden is still waking. Unlike the deciduous native azaleas, this is a true broadleaf evergreen, holding small, neat green leaves through the year, so the plant earns its place long after the flowers have passed. Compact and rounded at three to five feet, 'Chapmanii Wonder' keeps a tidy, well-behaved presence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat makes the plant so satisfying is the rare combination the cross achieved: genuine cold hardiness paired with real heat tolerance, so this rhododendron thrives where many of its kin struggle at one end of the range or the other. Little seen in the nursery trade, the shrub is something of a collector's find. As with all Rhododendron, though, the leaves and nectar carry grayanotoxins and are not to be eaten by people or pets; this is a plant for the eye rather than the table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGive 'Chapmanii Wonder' the classic rhododendron situation: filtered light or part shade, shelter from harsh afternoon sun and drying wind, and a moist but sharply drained, acidic soil rich in organic matter. The compact, evergreen habit suits a foundation planting, a shaded border, a woodland edge, or a large container, and the early lavender bloom shows beautifully against darker evergreens or a backdrop of bare spring branches. Combine with ferns, hellebores, and early bulbs for a quietly luminous early-season picture.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057974939763,"sku":"RHOD-CHAP-DAUR-WOND-01G","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/Rhododendron_Chapmanii_Wonder_Woodlanders_1.jpg?v=1742573055"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-varnadoes-moonbeam","title":"Rhododendron austrinum 'Varnadoe's Moonbeam'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Varnadoe's Moonbeam' is a luminous early-spring selection of the Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, prized for a soft, glowing color less common in the species. Rather than the fiery orange of many forms, the flowers open in clear golden yellow brushed with apricot and orange in the throat, over reddish tubes, a warm but refined coloring that seems to catch and hold the light, moonlit rather than blazing, against the still-bare spring woodland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe selection carries real Southern azalea history. This form was made by Aaron Varnadoe of Colquitt, Georgia, who opened his nursery in 1960 and spent years collecting seed and cuttings of native azaleas across south Georgia, mastering the difficult art of propagating them. Varnadoe came to specialize in \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eR. canescens\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eR. flammeum\u003c\/em\u003e, raising countless thousands of seedlings and choosing the best for rootability and unusual color; 'Moonbeam' stands among the finest. The clone was later distributed through Superior Trees in Florida, carrying that legacy forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike the species, this azalea flowers in early spring, often before full leaf, in generous clusters at the branch tips, and the blooms are lightly fragrant and highly attractive to the first pollinators of the year. The species name austrinum means southern, and the genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek. As with every wild azalea, the shrub is grown for the flowers rather than any edible use; all Rhododendron carry grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrowing into a loosely upright, deciduous shrub of roughly six to ten feet, 'Varnadoe's Moonbeam' reads best when allowed to develop a natural, open form rather than sheared. The soft gold color makes the shrub a fine partner for ferns, trilliums, and spring ephemerals, and a striking one against dark evergreen backdrops such as Illicium or holly. Massed, the early bloom throws a wash of gentle light across the woodland floor. Give dappled shade, acidic and well-drained soil, room for air to move through the branches, and a cool mulch over the shallow roots. Autumn brings muted yellow and orange tones before leaf drop.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057975136371,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-VARN-MOON-03G","price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/FullSizeRender_cbed1548-d94d-44ec-bb40-1dfb4954143d.heic?v=1771614738"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-reagan","title":"Rhododendron austrinum 'Reagan'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Reagan' is a richly colored selection of the Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, chosen in the wild in Florida near the Apalachicola River, the great blackwater river whose ravines shelter some of the Southeast's rarest plants. Where the typical Florida azalea runs to clear gold and orange, this form pairs yellow petals with deep reddish-pink buds and flower tubes, so that from a distance the whole shrub takes on a warm, red-flushed glow uncommon in the species.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn early spring, before or just as the new leaves emerge, 'Reagan' opens clusters of tubular, funnel-shaped flowers up to an inch and a half across, each bloom carrying long, arching stamens and a sweet fragrance in the honeysuckle manner of the wild azaleas. The contrast of yellow face and reddish tube gives the flowers real depth of color. The species name austrinum means southern, marking the Gulf Coast home of the Florida azalea, while the genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Florida azalea and its selections belong to the beloved group of Southern wild azaleas, long grown as bush honeysuckles for fragrance and early color rather than for any use in the kitchen. The usual caution holds: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar of 'Reagan' contain grayanotoxins and are not to be eaten by people or pets. The flowers, on the other hand, are a feast for the first hummingbirds, butterflies, and native bees of the season.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReaching ten to twelve feet with an upright, open frame, 'Reagan' suits the middle or back of a woodland border, a shaded bed beneath high pines, or a naturalistic planting where the red-toned early bloom can carry across the garden. Give filtered light or morning sun with afternoon shade, and a light, sandy, acidic, well-drained soil enriched with organic matter. Shelter the shrub from late frost and drying wind, mulch the shallow roots, and combine with clear-yellow azaleas, ferns, and native phlox so the warm color reads against fresh spring green.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057975267443,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-REAG-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-2143.jpg?v=1720140834"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-x-alabamensis-addison","title":"Rhododendron x alabamense 'Addison'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Addison' began as a chance seedling of the Alabama azalea, Rhododendron alabamense, and grew into something none of the parents quite predicted. Surely a hybrid, though the exact parentage remains unknown, the plant carries large, dense, dome-shaped terminal clusters that blend shades of yellow, pink, and white in a single truss, a multicolored effect striking enough that the selection first went by the name 'Stunning'. Charles Webb, a good friend of Woodlanders, spotted and selected the seedling in Florida, and the plant now carries the name of one of his young granddaughters.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Alabama azalea behind 'Addison' is one of the loveliest of the southeastern natives, a white-flowered, yellow-blotched shrub famous for a clean lemon-and-spice fragrance, and the hybrid keeps that sweet scent alongside the borrowed color. The native deciduous azaleas of the Southeast bloom in a long spring-into-summer relay, and a tall, free-flowering hybrid like this one earns a place at the heart of a collection, feeding the season's early bees and butterflies while the flowers shift through their warm range as they age.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe habit is tall and open, reaching ten to twelve feet in time on an airy, upright frame rather than a dense mound, so the plant reads as a small flowering tree at the back of a border as easily as a shrub. Give room for that height, and expect the loose, see-through structure to layer well behind lower companions. As with every azalea, the whole plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, a trait to keep in mind around children and livestock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSite 'Addison' at a woodland edge, in a native or mixed border, or in the high, filtered shade of tall pines, where the big multicolored trusses can be met at close range and the fragrance caught in passing. Give the cool, moist, acidic, well-drained soil that all the native azaleas share, mulch the shallow roots with pine straw, and pair with ferns, native phlox, and other spring-blooming azaleas to carry the color forward. A distinctive, personable Woodlanders selection with a good story behind the name.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057975300211,"sku":"RHOD-ALAB-ADDI-01G","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhododendronAddisonWoodlanders1.jpg?v=1743528663"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-flammeum-florence","title":"Rhododendron flammeum 'Florence'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Florence' is a robust selection, possibly a hybrid, of the native Oconee azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron flammeum\u003c\/em\u003e, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReaching 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057975332979,"sku":"RHOD-FLAM-FLOR-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-2141.jpg?v=1720140839"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-canescens-varnadoes-pink","title":"Rhododendron canescens 'Varnadoe's Pink'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Varnadoe's Pink' is a choice dark-pink selection of the native Piedmont azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron canescens\u003c\/em\u003e, chosen and grown by the late Aaron Varnadoe of Colquitt, Georgia, a great native-azalea grower and genuine Southern character. Where the wild species varies from pale to deep pink, this selection holds a rich, abundant dark pink, and the plant has become a popular favorite for that reliable color and a good habit and foliage. The selection is sometimes sold under the name 'Varnadoe's Phlox Pink'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn early spring the shrub opens showy, fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers in dark pink, before or as the new leaves emerge, with the long curving stamens and sweet, honeysuckle scent that make the Piedmont azalea so cherished. The species name canescens means becoming gray, for the soft down on the leaf undersides, and the genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek. In milder areas the leaves are sometimes held well into winter, so the plant reads as nearly evergreen where frosts are light, and fully deciduous farther north.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Piedmont azalea is the most widespread native azalea in the Southeast, and 'Varnadoe's Pink' carries that easy adaptability, growing from nearly full shade to full sun and spreading gently by underground stems where happy. Like the wild species, the plant hybridizes readily with other native azaleas blooming nearby, part of the endless variation of the Southern woods. Grown for flower and fragrance rather than the table, the shrub is not for eating: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar carry grayanotoxins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn attractive, hardy shrub reaching ten to twelve feet, 'Varnadoe's Pink' suits the woodland edge, a native border, or a naturalistic drift, and is unusually forgiving of light. The plant flowers most heavily in a sunny spot, while the foliage often looks best with some afternoon shade, particularly in late summer, so a site with morning sun and dappled afternoon light offers the best of both. Give acidic, well-drained soil that stays slightly damp, a cool mulch, and companions of ferns, native phlox, and other deciduous azaleas for a layered spring.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057975595123,"sku":"RHOD-CANE-VARN-PINK-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-2161.jpg?v=1720140841"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-colemanii","title":"Rhododendron colemanii","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRhododendron colemanii\u003c\/em\u003e, the Red Hills azalea, is one of the most recently recognized of all the native deciduous azaleas, first described as a distinct species only in 2008. For years the plant was folded in with the Alabama azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron alabamense\u003c\/em\u003e, which blooms earlier and holds consistently white, yellow-blotched flowers; the Red Hills azalea, by contrast, flowers later and in a wider range of color. The species takes its home ground from the Red Hills country of the inner coastal plain, a narrow range across southwest Georgia and southern Alabama.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlooming in mid to late May, well after most native azaleas have finished, the Red Hills azalea opens fragrant, tubular flowers that may echo the white-and-yellow of the Alabama azalea or run to white, pink, or soft yellow, with or without a blotch, so that no two plants are quite alike. The long-stamened blooms carry the sweet honeysuckle scent for which the wild azaleas are loved, and the late timing extends the native-azalea season into early summer. Green summer leaves close the year in yellow and bronze.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRestricted in the wild and still little known in cultivation, the Red Hills azalea is a genuine rarity, a plant that only recently stepped out of the shadow of a better-known cousin. Like all the Southern wild azaleas, the shrub is grown for fragrance and flower rather than the table: every Rhododendron carries grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten by people or pets. The late, nectar-rich flowers feed bees and butterflies at a season when little else in the shade garden is in bloom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA tall, multi-stemmed shrub reaching ten to twelve feet in time, the Red Hills azalea belongs at the woodland edge, along a shaded creek, or in a naturalistic native planting that mirrors the wild home on slopes and stream banks. Give sandy, acidic, well-drained soil, filtered light or morning sun with afternoon shade, and steady moisture without soggy ground. Set the shrub where the late fragrance can be caught, and pair with ferns, native phlox, and earlier-blooming azaleas so the season runs from first warmth into summer. Additional photos courtesy of Ron Miller.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057975693427,"sku":"RHOD-COLE-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-2138.jpg?v=1720140844"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-hybrid-colonel-mosby","title":"Rhododendron austrinum hybrid 'Colonel Mosby'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Colonel Mosby' is among the most arresting of the Dodd nurseries' Confederate Series of native azaleas, a deciduous hybrid raised at Dodd and Dodd Nurseries in Semmes, Alabama. The cross, made by Bob Schwindt, joins the golden Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, with the large-flowered Exbury hybrid 'Hotspur Yellow', and the plant takes its name from John Singleton Mosby, the Confederate cavalry commander known as the Gray Ghost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers are the draw: large, fragrant trusses in a rich, deep pink that shades toward salmon, each bloom flared and lightly fringed and lifted by a glowing golden-yellow flag on the upper petal. The effect is a quiet fire, a warm two-toned glow that reads from across the garden and recalls the wild flame azaleas that bloom beneath longleaf pines. A sweet, spicy fragrance rides the spring air, and the blooms open in the early to mid part of the season, just as the garden begins to stir in earnest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Confederate Series drew on the native Florida azalea for the traits that make Southern gardening possible, heat tolerance, early bloom, and fragrance, and 'Colonel Mosby' carries all three. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek, and azalea traces to azaleos, meaning dry, an old nod to the well-drained ground these shrubs prefer. As with every azalea, the plant is grown for flower and scent rather than the table: all Rhododendron carry grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReaching eight to ten feet with an upright, informal frame, 'Colonel Mosby' suits the woodland edge, a native border, or an understory planting among high pines where the deep pink can carry. Give morning sun or filtered light, and an acidic, sandy, well-drained soil that holds a little moisture, mulched with pine straw to keep the shallow roots cool. Set the shrub where the fragrance can be enjoyed, and pair with yellow and orange native azaleas, ferns, and native phlox so the two-toned bloom plays against warmer and cooler neighbors.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057975791731,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-HYBR-COLO-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-2151.jpg?v=1720140847"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-arborescens-early","title":"Rhododendron arborescens 'Early'","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a remarkable early-blooming form of the sweet azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron arborescens\u003c\/em\u003e, the tall, hairless-twigged native prized for white summer flowers and an intense heliotrope perfume. Where the species is famous as one of the last azaleas to bloom, carrying fragrant white flowers with showy red stamens well into summer, this selection turns that timing on its head.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe plant comes from a disjunct population that Woodlanders discovered in Aiken County, South Carolina, far from the shrub's mountain and piedmont strongholds. Blooming in April, this form flowers weeks, and sometimes months, ahead of sweet azaleas in the North Carolina piedmont, the southern Appalachians, and western Georgia. That head start makes the selection a botanical curiosity and a genuinely useful garden plant, bringing the sweet azalea's white, red-stamened, heliotrope-scented flowers to the front of the spring season rather than the tail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn every other respect the shrub is true to the species: a tall, loosely branched deciduous azalea that can rise to eight or ten feet, with smooth, glossy leaves that flush burgundy in autumn and flowers whose slender red stamens arch far beyond the white petals. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek, and arborescens is Latin for becoming tree-like. As with all wild azaleas, the plant is grown for beauty and fragrance rather than any edible use; like every Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar contain grayanotoxins and should not be eaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGive this early sweet azalea the classic woodland treatment: moist, acidic, well-drained soil that stays cool, shade or semi-shade, and supplemental water through dry spells. Set the shrub toward the back of a shaded border or among high-limbed trees where the April fragrance can drift to a path or a doorway, and pair with ferns, native phlox, and later-blooming azaleas so that one plant opens the season and the next carries it forward. For a collector of native azaleas, an April-flowering sweet azalea is a quiet prize.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057975890035,"sku":"RHOD-ARBO-EARL-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-2000.jpg?v=1720140850"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-calendulaceum-dawn-at-the-river","title":"Rhododendron calendulaceum ‘Dawn at the River’","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Dawn at the River' is a fine selection of the native flame azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron calendulaceum\u003c\/em\u003e, one of the most spectacular of all the wild deciduous azaleas of the eastern mountains. The species blankets woodland slopes and high mountain balds through the southern Appalachians, from Pennsylvania to Georgia, where the famous flame-colored display draws pilgrims to places like Gregory Bald each June. The species name calendulaceum means resembling Calendula, the marigold, a nod to the vivid orange of the flowers, while the common name flame azalea catches both that fire and the way the upright buds stand like candle flames.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis particular clone was selected and named by the growers at Transplant Nursery in Lavonia, Georgia, and the plants offered here were grown from cuttings shared by our friend and fellow plant nut Dean Jolly. The draw is the color: flowers open clear yellow and age through orange to red, so that a single shrub in full bloom often carries all three shades at once, a living gradient of dawn light. Unlike most of the native azaleas, the flame azalea is grown for that color rather than for scent, since the flowers carry little to no fragrance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flame azalea is a plant of cool mountain air, and 'Dawn at the River' performs best in cooler regions and at higher elevations, where the color holds longest and the plant is most at home. Wild azaleas like this one have long been admired in Southern gardens for spring spectacle, though never for the table: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar carry grayanotoxins and are not to be eaten by people or pets. The nectar-rich, long-stamened flowers instead feed swallowtail butterflies, native bees, and the season's hummingbirds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReaching six to ten feet with an upright, open frame, 'Dawn at the River' belongs at the woodland edge, in a mountain or upland garden, or among high-branched trees where the fiery bloom can blaze against fresh green. Give morning sun or dappled light with afternoon relief, a moist but well-drained, acidic soil laced with leaf mold or pine bark, and a cool mulch over the shallow roots. Combine the shrub with ferns, native phlox, and other deciduous azaleas so the yellow-to-red display leads a long native-azalea season.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057976021107,"sku":"RHOD-CALE-DAWN-AT-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-2072.jpg?v=1720140852"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-canescens-camillas-blush","title":"Rhododendron canescens 'Camilla's Blush'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Camilla's Blush' is a choice clone of the native Piedmont azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron canescens\u003c\/em\u003e, selected and introduced by Jeff and Lisa Beasley of Transplant Nursery in Lavonia, Georgia, who named the plant for their eldest daughter. The shrub came to us as cuttings shared by our friend and fellow plant nut Dean Jolly. From the widespread wild species, this selection was chosen for an especially generous show of soft pink flowers and vigorous, willing growth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn early spring, before or as the new leaves emerge, 'Camilla's Blush' covers itself in abundant clusters of soft pink, trumpet-shaped flowers, each carrying the long curving stamens and sweet, honeysuckle fragrance for which the Piedmont azalea is loved. The scent drifts through the still-bare woodland, and the early bloom lights up shade while the canopy is only beginning to leaf out. The species name canescens means becoming gray, a nod to the soft gray down on the leaf undersides, and the genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike the wild Piedmont azalea behind it, this selection belongs to the beloved group of Southern bush honeysuckles grown for fragrance and spring color rather than any use in the kitchen. The usual caution holds: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar of 'Camilla's Blush' carry grayanotoxins and are not to be eaten by people or pets. The flowers instead feed the first hummingbirds, native bees, and butterflies of the season.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVigorous and upright, reaching eight to ten feet in time, 'Camilla's Blush' naturalizes gracefully at the woodland edge, in an understory planting, or in a soft native drift. Give high, filtered shade, a well-drained, sandy, acidic soil mulched with pine needles, and steady moisture without soggy ground. Set the shrub where the fragrance can be caught on a spring evening, and pair with ferns, native phlox, and other deciduous azaleas for a long, layered season of bloom.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057976086643,"sku":"RHOD-CANE-CAMI-BLUS-01G","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/IMG-5141.jpg?v=1776366279"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-viscosum-roseum","title":"Rhododendron viscosum ‘Roseum’","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe swamp azalea, Rhododendron viscosum, ordinarily opens white; this selection breaks pink. 'Roseum' is a rose-flushed form of the familiar native, chosen and introduced by Woodlanders from a plant of Aiken County, South Carolina provenance, a home-ground selection that carries the sweet, clove-like fragrance of the species in a warmer color. The swamp azalea ranges widely across the eastern United States, from the Gulf Coast north into New England, threading the wet margins of swamps, bogs, and stream banks where few other flowering shrubs will follow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe species has gathered a handful of old common names over three centuries in cultivation, clammy azalea and swamp honeysuckle chief among them, and each names a real trait. Clammy and viscosum alike point at the sticky glandular hairs that coat the flower tube, catching the light and, now and then, a passing insect. Swamp honeysuckle catches the other half of the plant's character, the powerful honeysuckle-and-clove perfume that arrives in the heat of summer and carries a surprising distance on humid air. Rhododendron viscosum entered the botanical record early in the eighteenth century, and gardeners have prized the late fragrance ever since.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe pink flowers open in late spring and early summer, after the spring azaleas have finished, in loose clusters of narrow, sticky-haired trumpets above the deciduous foliage. Bees, butterflies, and hovering sphinx moths work the late bloom, drawn across the garden by scent. As with all azaleas, every part of the plant carries grayanotoxins and is poisonous if eaten, so 'Roseum' is a shrub to grow for fragrance and color rather than for any use, and one to keep clear of grazing livestock.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew shrubs turn a wet, acidic problem into an asset so gracefully. Plant 'Roseum' at a pond or stream edge, in a rain garden, in a boggy low spot, or along a moist woodland border, where the roots find the steady moisture the plant wants and the pink summer bloom lifts a green, shaded corner. Full sun is tolerated where the soil stays reliably moist, though morning sun with afternoon shade suits warmer gardens best. Pair with clethra, itea, sweetbay magnolia, and native ferns, and site the shrub where the summer perfume can be caught near a path or a seat. For the native-plant gardener, the unusual pink color and the Woodlanders provenance make this a quietly special form to grow.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057976152179,"sku":"RHOD-VISC-ROSE-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-1824.jpg?v=1720140857"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-schlippenbachii","title":"Rhododendron schlippenbachii","description":"\u003cp\u003eMichael Dirr, in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, sets the bar plainly: one of the finest azaleas, the flowers opening just as the leaves expand, with no adequate way to do the plant justice in the written word. The royal azalea earns the praise. Rhododendron schlippenbachii is a deciduous azalea of Korea and the neighboring corners of northeast China, the Russian Far East, and Japan, where the shrub forms the dominant understory across whole hillsides, blooming in soft drifts of pink from four hundred to fifteen hundred meters up the slopes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe name records a moment of discovery. Baron Alexander von Schlippenbach, a Baltic-German naval officer in Russian service, gathered the plant on the east coast of Korea in 1854 and brought the shrub to the notice of botanists, who honored him in the epithet. In Korea the royal azalea is more than a garden plant: revered as a regional emblem, chosen by provinces, cities, and counties as a floral symbol, and celebrated each spring where whole hillsides turn pink. Few azaleas carry so much cultural weight in their homeland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers are the largest and most refined of the deciduous azaleas, clear rose-pink to nearly white, lightly freckled within, and gently fragrant, opening in April and May as the broad leaves unfold in their distinctive whorls at the branch tips. Those leaves give a second season entirely: in autumn the rounded foliage turns to brilliant red, orange, and yellow, a display as fine as any maple and rare among azaleas. The tiered, layered branching lends a quiet architecture even in winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrow the royal azalea where cool, acidic, well-drained soil and dappled light echo the Korean hillsides, at a woodland edge, in a shaded border, or among rhododendrons, ferns, and other acid lovers. One caution shapes the siting: exceptionally cold-hardy in deep winter, the shrub breaks into growth at the first warmth of spring and can lose the tender young shoots to a late frost, so a cool, elevated, or lightly sheltered spot that warms slowly suits the plant far better than a sun-baked pocket. In the Southeast the royal azalea is happiest at higher elevations and in cooler gardens, where the flowers and the flaming autumn leaves both reach their full measure. Site where the spring bloom can be met at close range near a path or a seat, and pair with early bulbs and woodland companions that share the season.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057976316019,"sku":"RHOD-SCHL-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-hybrid-admiral-semmes","title":"Rhododendron austrinum hybrid 'Admiral Semmes'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Admiral Semmes' is the best known and easiest to grow of the Dodd nurseries' Confederate Series of azaleas, a deciduous hybrid built for the Deep South's heat and humidity. The cross joins the native Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, with the large-flowered Exbury hybrid 'Hotspur Yellow', and was raised at Dodd and Dodd Nurseries in Semmes, Alabama. The plant takes its name from the Confederate admiral Raphael Semmes, and went on to win the Georgia Gold Medal in 2007.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe reward is a shrub covered in spring with large, rounded trusses of clear, deep golden-yellow flowers, tubular and long-stamened, that pour out an exceptional fragrance, among the strongest of any yellow azalea. Bloom comes in early to mid spring, and the lustrous dark green summer leaves close the year with a striking turn to golden-orange and bronze. Reaching perhaps six to ten feet over time with a rounded, informal frame, the plant carries both flower power and real garden presence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Confederate Series drew on austrinum precisely for the qualities that make Southern gardening possible, heat tolerance, early bloom, and fragrance, and 'Admiral Semmes' inherits all three in full measure. Most of the series are notoriously difficult to propagate, but this selection is the willing exception, growing readily once settled in semi-shade with good drainage. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek. As with every azalea, the shrub is for the eye and the nose, not the table: all Rhododendron carry grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlant 'Admiral Semmes' in semi-shade, the light, high shade beneath tall pines being ideal, in moist, acidic, well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Site the shrub where the powerful fragrance can be enjoyed, near a path, a porch, or a doorway, and give room for the rounded form to fill out. The golden bloom shines against dark evergreen backdrops of Illicium, holly, or magnolia, and the shrub combines handsomely with ferns, native phlox, and later azaleas that carry the woodland season forward into summer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057976414323,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-HYBR-ADMI-01G","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/3267F861-2547-48F4-926F-63D2F545ECA5.jpg?v=1771876115"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-qbackb","title":"Rhododendron 'QbackB' (Sunbow Solar Flare)","description":"\u003cp\u003eSunbow Solar Flare is the patented name for the azalea catalogued as \u003cem\u003eRhododendron\u003c\/em\u003e 'QbackB' (U.S. Plant Patent 27,083), a deciduous native hybrid bred for the very conditions that defeat most azaleas. The plant traces to a deliberate cross made in 1984 by Robert Edward Lee in Folsom, Louisiana, who set out to combine the fragrance and vivid color of the Gulf Coast's own Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, with the substance of the Exbury hybrids. A seedling from austrinum open-pollinated with the hybrid 'Gibraltar' was crossed onto 'Chetco', and from that union Lee selected this standout in 1990.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReleased as one of a three-part Sunbow series of sun-tolerant native azaleas, Solar Flare lives up to the astronomical name. In early to mid spring, ahead of many companions, the shrub lights up with generous trusses of bright yellow flowers washed with a hint of orange, opening from darker orange-red buds so the whole plant reads two-toned, like a flare caught mid-burst. A rich honeysuckle fragrance pours off the trusses. Unusual among azaleas, this selection was chosen for genuine sun tolerance, which lets a gardener use the plant where a woodland azalea would sulk.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBehind the trademark stands one of the South's most beloved wildflowers. The native deciduous azaleas, the wild honeysuckle-azaleas of old country speech, have perfumed springtime woods from the Carolinas to the Gulf for centuries, and \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e lends this hybrid both that scent and the golden fire in the petals. The genus name Rhododendron is Greek for rose tree; the older name azalea, from azaleos, meaning dry, hints at the well-drained ground these shrubs prefer. As with all azaleas, the foliage and nectar contain grayanotoxins and are not for eating, a small caution against a great deal of beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeciduous and upright, reaching roughly four to six feet, Solar Flare suits the sunny edge of a border, a foundation planting with afternoon relief, or a naturalistic sweep among pines where the spring color can carry. Because the plant accepts more sun than most azaleas, a gardener can choose brighter, more open ground, though morning sun with a little afternoon shade still yields the best foliage. Give moist, acidic, well-drained soil, mulch the shallow roots, and pair with ferns, native phlox, and later-blooming shrubs that carry the season forward. Photo courtesy of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42127322906739,"sku":"RHOD-QBAC-SUNB-SOLA-01G","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/IMG_9183_cf1e538a-eb53-4741-b6cd-283ef8870499.jpg?v=1722291766"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-hybrid","title":"Rhododendron 'Sunstruck'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Aromi Sunstruck' is one of the deciduous azaleas raised by Dr. Eugene Aromi, the Mobile educator whose decades of patient hybridizing gave the Deep South a whole race of heat-tolerant azaleas. Beginning in the late 1960s, Aromi crossed the large, brilliant Exbury and Knap Hill strains with hardy southern natives, above all the Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, to win big, fragrant flowers on shrubs that could take Gulf Coast summers. He described more than fifty thousand seedlings over a lifetime of work and named only the finest hundred or so; 'Aromi Sunstruck' carries that pedigree of selection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrue to the name, the flowers arrive like a burst of sunlight. Each tubular, funnel-shaped bloom spreads about one and three-quarter inches across, with wavy-edged lobes of vivid yellow brightened by a warm orange-yellow blotch, and the blossoms gather into loose trusses of roughly fourteen for a full, glowing spring display. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek, while azalea derives from azaleos, meaning dry, a nod to the airy, well-drained woodland these shrubs favor; neither name hints at the sheer wattage of the color.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe southern native azaleas standing behind this hybrid have perfumed springtime forests from Florida to the Carolinas for generations, prized in old gardens as bush honeysuckles for their scent rather than any use in the kitchen or the medicine chest. That distinction matters: like every Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar of 'Aromi Sunstruck' contain grayanotoxins and are not to be eaten by people or animals. This is a plant to admire with the eyes and the nose, not the tongue.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeciduous and informally upright at four to six feet, 'Aromi Sunstruck' is made for the woodland garden, the shaded border, or an understory spot beneath high-limbed pines and oaks. Morning sun brings out the fullest color while afternoon shade keeps the foliage fresh, and a moist, acidic, well-drained soil with a cool mulch keeps the roots content. Set the shrub among ferns, native phlox, and foamflower, or in a drift with other Aromi azaleas so the warm yellows and oranges can play off one another when spring arrives.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42127422324851,"sku":"RHOD-SUNS-01G","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/ScreenShot2024-07-29at7.55.41PM.png?v=1722297751"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-great-balls-of-fire","title":"Rhododendron 'Great Balls of Fire'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Great Balls of Fire' belongs to the celebrated line of Aromi azaleas, the life's work of Dr. Eugene Aromi, a University of South Alabama education professor who set out in the late 1960s simply to help the azaleas in his Mobile front yard survive the Gulf Coast's brutal heat and humidity. What began as a backyard experiment grew into one of the great American breeding programs. From 1971 onward Aromi crossed cold-hardy Exbury and Knap Hill azaleas with tough southern native species, chief among them the Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, chasing large, fragrant, heat-proof deciduous flowers. He made more than a thousand crosses and raised over fifty thousand seedlings before his death in 2004, and roughly a hundred of the best were named. This is counted among them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA deciduous azalea rather than the evergreen sort, 'Great Balls of Fire' erupts in spring with rounded trusses of two-inch blooms in tones that run from molten orange to deep, glowing tangerine, each flaring flower carrying a slim red tube and long, arching stamens that give the whole cluster a fiery, honeysuckle-like poise. A soft sweetness rides the air around the shrub, and the color reads from clear across the garden. The genus name Rhododendron comes from the Greek for rose tree, while azalea traces to azaleos, meaning dry, an old reference to the open ground where some kinds were found; neither name prepares a visitor for how incandescent these flowers can be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe name is pure showmanship. Christened for Jerry Lee Lewis's 1957 barn-burner \"Great Balls of Fire,\" the shrub practically demands a soundtrack, and we stand by the original advice to blast the song through the speakers while you coronate this beauty in the ground. Difficult to propagate and slow to bulk up, the plant reaches very few nurseries, which makes each one something of a collector's prize. A word of caution familiar to every azalea grower: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar carry grayanotoxins and should never be eaten by people or pets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGive 'Great Balls of Fire' the classic deciduous-azalea situation, dappled light or morning sun with shelter from the hottest afternoon, in moist, sharply drained, acidic soil enriched with pine bark or leaf mold. Standing four to six feet tall and nearly as wide with an open, informal frame, the shrub shines at the woodland edge, among high-branched pines and oaks, or threaded through a naturalistic border where the spring fireworks can blaze against fresh green. Underplant with ferns, native phlox, or foamflower, and site the shrub where low morning light can set the trusses aglow. Photo courtesy of Merri Oxley.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42127455092851,"sku":"RHOD-GREA-BALL-OF-01G","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/AromiGreatBallsofFire2.jpg?v=1722603161"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-sunrise","title":"Rhododendron 'Sunrise'","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Aromi Sunrise' is a deciduous azalea from the storied breeding program of Dr. Eugene Aromi, the University of South Alabama professor who spent decades teaching heat-shy azaleas to flourish along the Gulf Coast. Introduced in 1987, this hybrid marries the bold Knap Hill azalea 'Hiawatha' with the native Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, so the plant inherits both the size and clarity of the English strains and the toughness and fragrance of a southern wildflower. The result is exactly what Aromi chased across more than a thousand crosses: a large-flowered, sweet-scented, heat-tolerant azalea for gardens where the classic mountain sorts fail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn mid spring the shrub comes alive with a glowing display. Tubular, funnel-shaped flowers open two inches across, their brilliant yellow petals lit by a vivid orange-yellow blotch and finished with gently wavy edges that catch the light. As many as fourteen blooms crowd each flat truss, and a soft fragrance drifts from them that draws in bees, butterflies, and passing gardeners alike. Elliptic, olive-green leaves follow, softly downy beneath, giving the plant a quiet presence through summer before autumn closes the season.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe name reads like the flower looks. That first flush of yellow shot with orange has the quality of daybreak, and 'Aromi Sunrise' honors both the breeder and the moment. The genus name Rhododendron is Greek for rose tree, while azalea comes from azaleos, meaning dry, an old reference to the open, well-drained woods where native species grow. Those same native azaleas have scented Southern springs for generations, though country lore has always known to admire and not to taste: like all Rhododendron, the leaves and nectar hold grayanotoxins and are not edible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Aromi Sunrise' belongs at the woodland edge, in a dappled border, or among high pines where morning sun can ignite the trusses and afternoon shade can spare the foliage. Reaching perhaps four to six feet with an informal, softly spreading frame, the shrub layers beautifully with ferns, native phlox, foamflower, and other deciduous azaleas timed to extend the bloom. Plant in moist, acidic, well-drained soil, mulch the shallow roots, and give the plant room to be seen when the flowers open. Photos courtesy of Mike Creech and Bob Stelloh.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42935907942515,"sku":"RHOD-SUNR-01G","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/AromiSunriseWoodlanders2.jpg?v=1742930490"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-pure-yellow","title":"Rhododendron austrinum (Pure Yellow)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a rare and radiant selection of the Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, chosen for flowers of pure, clear yellow. Where the species usually runs to golden-orange, this form holds a clean, buttery, luminous yellow, a color that lights up the spring woodland like sunshine slipping through the canopy. For gardeners and collectors who love the native azaleas, a truly pure-yellow austrinum is an uncommon prize.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNative to the sandy pinewoods of the Deep South, the Florida azalea is famous for early bloom, sweet fragrance, and pollinator appeal, and this yellow form carries all three. In early spring, dense upright clusters of tubular, canary-yellow flowers open with gracefully arching stamens and a sweet perfume, drawing in hummingbirds, butterflies, and the first native bees. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek, while the species name austrinum means southern.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe pure-yellow selection offers a clean, bright note that plays beautifully against the oranges and corals of other native azaleas, or holds the eye entirely on its own. Like all of the wild azaleas, the shrub is grown for flower and fragrance and never for eating: every Rhododendron carries grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar, and none should be tasted by people or pets. The flowers are strictly for the eye, the nose, and the pollinators.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBest planted in dappled shade with moist, acidic, well-draining soil, this Florida azalea is a reliable performer for understory plantings and woodland borders, reaching a mature range of roughly four to ten feet depending on siting and age. Give a cool, mulched root run and morning sun with afternoon shade for the fullest, cleanest color, and combine the shrub with ferns, native phlox, and other native azaleas timed to open in sequence. A collector's gem and a pollinator magnet, this pure-yellow form is an instant woodland classic.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42956560793715,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-PURE-YELL-01G","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhododendronPureYellowWoodlanders-7.jpg?v=1750636766"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-don-s-variegated","title":"Rhododendron austrinum ‘Don’s Variegated’","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e 'Don's Variegated' is a rare variegated form of the native Florida azalea, carrying the wild flame azalea of the Gulf states but brushed with a fine tracing of gold along each leaf edge. The selection was discovered by Don Jacobs, the noted Georgia plantsman behind Eco-Gardens in Decatur, who found among seedlings of \u003cem\u003eR. austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e a plant whose foliage held light even before the flowers arrived. Variegation is uncommon in the native azaleas, which makes this a genuine collector's plant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen the flowers come, in April, the shrub is set ablaze. Trumpets of fragrant golden-orange, kissed with apricot and flame, open in loose clusters at the branch tips, often before the leaves have fully unfurled. The petals flare and curl back while long, graceful stamens reach outward and catch the light, and a soft, spicy-sweet fragrance, something of citrus peel and rain-washed woodland, drifts from the blooms. The variegated foliage that follows keeps a subtle, ghostlike presence through the summer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor all the drama of the flowers, this azalea carries the quiet heritage of native ecology, feeding hummingbirds, butterflies, and the first bees of spring. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek, and azalea comes from azaleos, meaning dry, a nod to the airy, well-drained woods where the species grows. As with every azalea, the plant belongs to the eye and the nose and never the table: all Rhododendron carry grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlant 'Don's Variegated' in the dappled shade of native pines or hardwoods, in acidic, well-drained soil enriched with leaf mold or pine bark, where the variegated leaves can glow without scorching in hot sun. Reaching six to ten feet in time, the shrub reads best as a specimen or in a woodland border where both flower and foliage can be admired at close range. Pair with ferns, native phlox, and other native azaleas, and give a cool mulch and shelter from harsh afternoon light to keep the variegation clean. Photos courtesy of Bill Tanneberger and Tidewater Gardener.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"1 Gallon","offer_id":43218471944307,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-DONS-VARI-01G","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"3 Gallon","offer_id":43218471977075,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-DONS-VARI-03G","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhodDonsVariegatedTidewaterGardenerWoodlanders2.png?v=1753479745"},{"product_id":"rhododendron-austrinum-millie-mac","title":"Rhododendron austrinum ‘Millie Mac’","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Millie Mac' is a wild-selected native azalea from the damp hollows of Escambia County, Alabama, where Floyd McConnell found this plant as a distinctive limb sport on a wild shrub and propagated it for a beauty all its own. Related to the Florida azalea, \u003cem\u003eRhododendron austrinum\u003c\/em\u003e, the selection shows white-margined flowers that hint at a touch of \u003cem\u003eR. canescens\u003c\/em\u003e in the background, and the lineage remains a matter of pleasant debate among native-azalea growers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers are the marvel. Deep orange-red buds open in early spring, before the leaves, into clear yellow blooms crisply trimmed in white, as if a quiet halo had been drawn around each petal's edge. Held in clusters on bare branches like small lanterns in the cooling woods, the blossoms carry a sweet, honeysuckle fragrance that drifts through the early garden. Few native azaleas offer so unusual a two-toned, white-edged flower.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBehind the novelty stands the deep heritage of the Southern wild azaleas, the bush honeysuckles grown for generations for scent and spring color rather than any use in the kitchen. The genus name Rhododendron means rose tree in Greek, and azalea comes from azaleos, meaning dry. As with every azalea, the shrub is for the eye and the nose alone: all Rhododendron carry grayanotoxins in leaf and nectar and should not be eaten by people or pets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHardy from the mid-Atlantic through the Deep South, roughly USDA zones 5 to 9, 'Millie Mac' takes both northern cold and southern heat, settling happily into dappled shade and well-drained, humus-rich soil. Medium-green summer leaves turn a rich red in autumn, adding a late chapter after most native azaleas have faded. Reaching six to ten feet, the shrub belongs in a woodland or native garden where the white-edged spring flowers and fall color can be admired up close. Pair with ferns, native phlox, and other native azaleas. Photos courtesy of In Defense of Plants.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"1 Gallon","offer_id":43218475155571,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-MILL-MAC-01G","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"3 Gallon","offer_id":43218475188339,"sku":"RHOD-AUST-MILL-MAC-03G","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/RhodMillieMacInDefenseofPlantsWoodlanders2.jpg?v=1753480499"}],"url":"https:\/\/woodlanders.net\/collections\/azaleas-rhododendrons.oembed?page=3","provider":"Woodlanders","version":"1.0","type":"link"}