Plant Encyclopedia

Group/Class:  Electric Lights™ Series

Brand:  First Editions

Description:

Stunning double pink flowers smother the plant in early to mid-spring, creating an impressive border or screen; absolutely must have well-drained, highly acidic and organic soil; flower buds are exceptionally hardy

Ornamental Features

Electric Lights™ Double Pink Azalea is smothered in stunning clusters of lightly-scented pink trumpet-shaped flowers with a orange blotch at the ends of the branches from early to mid spring, which emerge from distinctive rose flower buds before the leaves. It has lime green deciduous foliage. The glossy oval leaves turn burgundy in fall.

Landscape Attributes

Electric Lights™ Double Pink Azalea is an open multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Electric Lights™ Double Pink Azalea is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Electric Lights™ Double Pink Azalea will grow to be about 8 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth, but will die in standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have rich, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.