Rhododendron canescens
(rode-doh'den-dron kan'es-senz) common names include the Native azalea or the Honeysuckle azalea. There may be other common names I haven't heard of before. This is when botanical names are important. Otherwise, botanical names are just tongue twisters.
As I'm sitting here thinking about fulfilling my promise to highlight on native plants for our gardens here in southeast Louisiana, my mind floods with ways in which to deliver the material. Do I start off with the canopy plants, then move down to the middle ground plantings and finish off with the ground coverings? Or should it be alphabetically? But what if I forget one then it's all messed up? How about I write about them by the plants genus? Isn't that how these botanicals are biologically arranged and therefore shouldn't I do it that way? And here's what I've decided.....I'm starting with one of my fav's and I'll move on from there. As a mother of four littles, my life is too predictable so I will create a little spontaneity. I'd love to hear some of you guys favorite natives that you'd like to know more about, leave them in the comments below. Let's get started!
FORM: This is a deciduous shrub (loosing it's leaves in the Fall season) with an upright and oval shape. Mature specimens look tree-like (which I like) and often send up suckers from the base of the plant (which I don't like). I usually just cut the suckers off at the base. I have a friend that uses a product called sucker punch to control shoots growing from the base of any of her plants. It's a plant growth regulator that stops suckers from the roots and pruning cuts. I'm not sure of the active ingredient(s) but usually there are other products on the market. According to her this one works and is effective in her maintenance regime for stopping suckers - Bonide's sucker punch. CHARACTERISTICS: The native azalea prefers full sun but will grow in full shade in which case it will hardly bloom. It preforms best in moist, well drained acidic soil. It has a slow growth rate. In nature it is usually found as an understory growth, either alone or in a group. They can grow to be as tall as 15+ feet but an average specimen is around 6 feet tall. VEGETATION: The leaves are oblong in shape, about two to four inches long that's wider in the middle and have a yellowish-green color. The flowers are pink to white in color and are made up of cylindrical tubes called florets that are highly fragrant. Each flower are a round cluster of anywhere from six to fifteen of these florets that sprout before and after the leaves do in early spring. The flower buds form in mid-July so sufficient water supply is needed during times of drought in the summer so that you will have an abundant amount of buds to bloom in the spring. Also, any trimming should happen right after plant blooms, in the spring. The fruiting capsule is only about an half inch, oblong in shape with really no ornamental value. They will split in late Fall to release it's tiny seeds. If you want a cutting, do it in spring. These are difficult to transplant in larger specimens. Be careful when buying one that may have been in a growing container too long. Check to see that the root ball isn't matted and bound. These plants rarely grow out of this condition and will just be a poor specimen. CARE: Fertilize in late winter before new growth. It's a spring bloomer so trim or cut back immediately after blooming period is over. If your specimen grows real tall and doesn't bloom much, cut back tremendously (almost to the ground) so that new shoots will grow and produce a more shrubby plant. Always cut back old non-productive canes to encourage new bloom producing growth.
Above picture you can make out the flowers made up of the tubular florets and the shape of the leaves.
Above picture shows a native azalea in a naturalist setting: an understory and a tall leggy (bc it hasn't been trimmed) specimen.
This specimen is in a naturalist setting, note the bottom is full in form and blooming and the top has a long leggy section sticking out the top.
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