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Azalea & Rhododendron

Replacing azaleas with...?

16 years ago

I have about 16 azaleas along the front of my brick home that receive a lot of direct sun from noon until late afternoon. They aren't doing well at all and look like nothing more than leafless, stick bushes. We even replaced some a couple of years ago and they still aren't doing good in that area. My azaleas on the side of the house don't receive much direct sun at all and do great.

We are going to pull up the azaleas across the front, put them elsewhere in our yard where they will hopefully do better, and in their place put something that is more sun and heat resistant. We already have plum delights and Indian hawthorns along the front so any ideas on what we could put in place of the azaleas?

Thanks so much!

Amanda

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Comments (3)

Iris GW
16 years ago
Are you wanting something evergreen?

You might want to post this question in the shrubs forum also.
rhodyman
16 years ago
Many azaleas don't do well in full sun. However, some will tolerate it quite well:

Encore azaleas are said to do well in full sun but not Autumn Ruby and Autumn Carnival. Some that are said to do well are:
Autumn Amethyst, Autumn Angel, Autumn Belle, Autumn Carnation, Autumn Chiffon, Autumn Coral, Autumn Debutante, Autumn Embers, Autumn Empress, Autumn Monarch, Autumn Moonlight, Autumn Princess, Autumn Rouge, Autumn Royalty, Autumn Sangria, Autumn Starlite, Autumn Sundance, Autumn Sunset, Autumn Sweetheart, Autumn Twist

Minitastic: (Indica) Wine purple, single. Shy flowering. Dark wine red foliage. Vigorous growth to 1.2 meters. Can be trained to heights from 15-50cm. Prune lightly as required to maintain shape and foliage color. SUN.

Constellation: (Indica): Bright pink border with soft pink centre. Large single to semi-double, hose-in-hose. Compact bushy growth to 1 meter. SUN.

For a larger plant, consider: Camellia Sasanqua. It is commonly called simply, Sasanqua. The flower of red, white, pink, purple, and peppermint are the same colors, but smaller than the Camellia japonica blooms. The Camellia Sasanqua can grow 16 feet tall and blooms earlier (October to March) than Camellia japonica. The leaves are a glowing waxy green and evergreen with a slight curving habit. The double flowering Sasanqua is stunning when in full bloom. The Sasanqua is a perfect specimen landscape plant that will tolerate full sun, and is most often used in Zone 6-9 as a privacy hedge.

Here is a link that might be useful: Encore Azaleas
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Here's the FAQ on posting photos: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/pepper/2002072150000611.html I've never done it myself so I can't give you any firsthand advice. I have about a dozen azaleas inherited from the previous owner. I don't know enough about them to give advice, but I'm under the impression they're rather demanding shrubs. If you don't get an answer here, you might try posting this in the Azalea & Rhododendron forum: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/azalea/
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Any of the dwarf Encores should work. They tend to have weak spring bloom and in late summer they again have a weak bloom until frost. If they do eventually get too tall, azaleas can be pruned. In this case I would recommend cutting the longer branches back considerably right after they bloom. That is much more effective and longer lasting then shearing them like a hedge. You could use a mixture. I would recommend planting several of the same variety together, but having a collection of different varieties. Dwarf indica azaleas are semievergreen varieties that barely reach 3 feet tall. Red Ruffle is another true dwarf that reaches a maximum height of 2 to 3 feet. Here is what the Alabama Extension service has to say about Dwarf Indica Azaleas: Azaleas Many authorities believe the dwarf Indica is separate from the Indica azaleas. The best known dwarf Indicas in this country are the Gumpo group, which are excellent landscape plants. They are compact, low growing plants that produce an abundance of small leaves. Large, rufÃ¯Â¬Âed Ã¯Â¬Âowers bloom in June. The Gumpo variety produces single, white, rufÃ¯Â¬Âed Ã¯Â¬Âowers up to 3-inches wide. Pink Gumpo produces pale pink Ã¯Â¬Âowers with a white edge. Gumpos are a good choice if you want a true dwarf azalea. Here is a link that might be useful: Dwarf Encore Azaleas
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Off the cuff, I'd say these would be fairly available: Hino Crimson Girard Crimson Hershey Red There are others but I'm pretty sure these are more common varieties. You might consider these 'rosy' red or not. You really have to be careful of what you see on the internet because different cameras have differing abilities to pick up the color red so the colors can vary widely. I suspect you're looking for something more like this though... This is Girard's Hot Shot Azalea. I've never seen it in any nurseries but Greer has them. I highly recommend their company. Here is a link that might be useful: Greer Azaleas This post was edited by Sequoiadendron4 on Tue, Apr 29, 14 at 16:03
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jeff_al
16 years ago
camellia 'shishi gahsira' could be a good choice for a flowering, evergreen, low-growing shrub. mine is unpruned and about 5' tall after many years with an even greater width. the flowers are a hot pink and are produced in fall through early winter.
if you have a red brick home, i might look into another
color. ;-)
there are other low-growing camellias and an internet search for that will give some results.

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