My first thought was regarding concern for the branches with dead leaves, and how severe that was. A dead limb is often a sign of a problem near the crown of the plant. However, judging from what I can see in the photo, the plant does appear to be in good overall health and pruning out damaged branches is the right thing to do, as this will encourage new growth. However, you do want to be very reserved and selective about winter pruning. As for the blooming, encore azaleas have a Spring and Fall blooming cycle. Usually, a light pruning commonly referred to as "deadheading" is done after the Spring blooming begins to fade. This is done to keep the hormone levels in the plant from shifting. The blooming activity is part of the plants reproduction, so once the blooms fully mature and begin to fade, the plant is triggered to slow down the production of the bloom producing hormones. So once your flowers weather a bit, simply prune just below the first set of leaves nearest the bloom each Spring. This will improve your Fall blooming cycle significantly. Also, use your winter months to replenish the phosphate levels, which are usually depleted by heavy blooming cycles. I'm in the Atlanta area, but you're welcome to visit my webpage and link to the Facebook page. I keep an open log on Facebook with pests and problems I find in the field, and what can be done to avoid the problems. There are several photos with various pests that go after Azaleas. While lace bugs are the most common, my favorite is of a wooly aphid I found last Spring. Here is a link that might be useful: Serenity Lawn Service

Hello, val1. Choosing a part shade location or varieties is not going to be the issue for you; many people in Zone 4 grow them so I will let them chime in regarding best varieties (Northern Lights, Iron Clads, etc). Your biggest problem is going to be meeting the requirements of rhododendrons by duplicating the places where they normally grow. Planting soil needs to be acidic and must have good drainage (translation: cannot be clay soil). Utah relatives of mine and articles that I have read indicate that your soil is alkaline & low in organic matter but.... I am not sure if you have clay; check with a local nursery if you do not know. To compensate for less than adequate soil, you need to ammend the soil (compost, manure, peat) or use raised beds with acidic soil. Use zero local soil content if you have clay or caliche soil as the tiny plant roots cannot grow through these compacted soils. Planting location will be important and you are on the right track with sun exposure. Protect them also from windy areas that can dry them during winter and summer. And do not expose them to the hot summer afternoon sun. Somewhere between 2-4 hrs is all they need. Dappled sun is perfect. Do not select a location with a lot of traffic or places where garden equipment, garden projects and/or dogs will disturb their tiny roots. Protect them from deer if this is an issue where you live; deer think the flower buds are tasty... Constant moisture, 3-4" of acidic mulch and good drainage are important, specially during your hot summers and during dry winters when the ground does not freeze. Until you get used to their appropriate watering schedule, check manually by inserting a finger 3-4" into the soil; if it feels dry, water. If it feels moist, leave them alone. If it feels wet, determine why they are getting too much water and take precautions. And remember to tweak the watering schedule as your seasons change. When buying the plants that you are interested in, choose those good for zone 4 and inquire about their growth habits to make sure you get one that does not grow wide much. If it does, them compensate by pruning and deaheading. Pruning should be done once the flower show stops. By mid-summer, the plant begins to develop flower buds for the next year so pruning the plant at this time will chop off the flower buds. I added a link below to an article to a Utah State University article. I hope this helps. Luis Here is a link that might be useful: Utah State University Info

Too much potassium rich fertilizer and "ideal" temperature changes could be trigering this. It happens with gardenias when the temps go down. Buds got set in the summer and the plant think it is spring when the current temps go down to spring-like levels. Try not fertilizing after July 1st for plants in the ground (that is an Azalea Society recommendation). If the plant will be in a pot, fertilize it lightly every month or so through the fall, with a fertilizer low in nitrogen and high in phosporus to promote root and bud growth without promoting plant and leaf growth. Then let it rest during the winter, but don't forget to water it.

Fall planting is no problem if the nursery took proper care of them. The problem with plants from big box stores is that many different unskilled people are taking care of them and it is a miracle if they survive. Assuming they are healthy, they should be OK. The main problem is frost heaving in the winter if you get freeze/thaw cycles. It is best to prevent this by using a good 2 to 3 inches of mulch. This is good for the azaleas anyway. Usually plants from big box stores are in a media that dries out quickly so they don't drown them. You can tell when they dry out by the weight of the pot. If it gets light quickly, then water frequently. If it does in fact dry out very quickly, when you plant them, it is a good idea to soak them for about an hour and get rid of some of the potting material . They need about 3 hours of sun a day to form blossoms. With less light, they may just be nice green bushes. If it is too shady, you can either prune off some of the lower spruce branches, or move the azaleas to a sunnier location. Since the azaleas formed their buds for next year's flowers this summer, you will have to wait 2 years to see if they will bloom where you plant them now. The best ways to acidify soil are sulfur dust or ferric sulfate. It is best to test the soil so you know how much you need. Unless the leaves turn yellow with green veins, the acidity of the soil is not a big problem. If you are in the mountains, chances are you have acidic soil. If you are in the plains, then the soil could be alkaline, in which case you would need to build up a raised bed to have a place where you could place acidic soil. It is very hard to keep soil acidic in a hole in alkaline soil. That is why they use raised beds. Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow rhododendrons and azaleas.