Native Azaleas

I love and appreciate the stunning beauty of the evergreen azaleas as they transform our southern spring from bare branches to fairyland. But I have to admit that I love our more subtle and graceful native azaleas even more. They don’t provide the dark evergreen background of leaves that the Asian cultivars do, nor do they offer the same mass of blooms but there is something completely charming about the natives that make them welcome in many southern gardens.

All of our native azaleas are deciduous and many offer brilliant fall foliage in addition to beautiful blooms. One of the best things about growing these natives is that they offer a broad range of blooming times,  from the Pinxter Azalea in March to the Plumleaf in late August and September.

Many native azaleas have been bred to produce cultivars that have enhanced color, size of bloom or resistance to heat and disease.

Wait, What!!!??? Can we still call it “native” if somebody’s been messing with it to make it a named cultivar? Well, the answer to that question is a matter of opinion.  There are purists who only consider natives to be plants that reproduce without any interference from people.  Other gardeners think that a named cultivar is still a native plant – and a great thing!

A cultivar is not a hybrid.  A hybrid is the result of some human combining two separate breeds, species or classes to make something completely different.  (There are naturally occurring hybrids but the vast majority are the result of the actions of plant breeders and scientists.)

To understand the difference between a cultivar and a hybrid, think of the difference between “editing” the photos on your phone to enhance the color or size (creating a cultivar) vs. using photoshop to take part of one photo and blending it into another to make a completely different picture (making a hybrid.)

Most of the native azaleas that I grow are cultivars.  I would like to be more of a purist, but frankly, these plants are stunningly beautiful – and readily available – so I happily include them in my native garden.

Undoubtedly, there are gardens close to you that grow native azaleas but I think the very best place to see these beautiful shrubs is out in the forest where there is absolutely no question about their lineage.  They are wild and free and beautiful. What could be better?

Happy Gardening!

Laura