Azaleas

With my love of flowering plants and a dense canopy of oak trees throughout the property of our old house, I was forced to find plants that could survive a significant amount of shade. The plants also had to be able to compete on an equal basis with the oak trees for available root space. I was initially concerned that azaleas, while adaptable to shade, would have problems competing with the aggressive roots sent out by the oak trees. The roots on azaleas typically are rather shallow, need significant protection (usually with a mulch) and require an acid soil. What I found was that large oak trees provide an abundant source of mulch through the annual dropping of leaves which also helps maintain the acid level in the soil.

If I started the azalea plantings at least four or five feet out from the trunk of the oak, I could usually find occasional spots that were free of large roots from the tree. I would then dig a small hole, mix in some peat moss and then plant the azalea. I also found that mixing varieties of azaleas led to a more pleasing result than keeping to one variety throughout. The mix allowed for a longer flowering season and added more variety and texture.

Some resources on azaleas:

• Start here - University of Florida
• Azalea Society of America
• Floridata - Overview
• Floridata Azalea Gallery

While I have had more failures than successes with many of my Florida plants, I am very happy with what I was able to achieve with azaleas. Below are some of the pictures I took in the spring of 2005 (click on any thumbnail for a larger picture).

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The images below were taken at Disney World: