Rhododendron austrinum hybrid 'Colonel Mosby'

'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, Rhododendron austrinum, 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.

The 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.

The 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.

Reaching 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.