Hi all, We bought this Azalea back in spring, and up till now it looked amazingly healthy in bloom with loads of beautiful white flowers, but since the flowers have gone it has looked terrible. Is this normal? what advice would you give to help it?
Keep in the shade/half-shade. Lots of water; rain water if poss. but any water is better than none. Stand the pot in water to ensure that the compost is thoroughly wetted (a problem with modern composts).
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Where have you got it sited, what type is it, and what did you plant it in? Compost alone is no use if it's staying in the pot, and if it's staying in the pot, many aren't suited to that long term, so just bear that in mind It looks like one of the Japanese azaleas though, which do like some sun, and are slow growing, so it may be that it's just been hit hard by weather and isn't yet established well enough to cope with that. It's easier for them in the ground to cope than in a pot, but you can move it to a bit of shade to help for the short term. If it was being grown undercover when you bought it, and it then went straight outside when you planted it, then cold weather, followed by the high heat many areas had, will have meant it's struggled. They also need good drainage, whether potted or in the ground
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Compost alone is no use if it's staying in the pot, and if it's staying in the pot, many aren't suited to that long term, so just bear that in mind
It looks like one of the Japanese azaleas though, which do like some sun, and are slow growing, so it may be that it's just been hit hard by weather and isn't yet established well enough to cope with that. It's easier for them in the ground to cope than in a pot, but you can move it to a bit of shade to help for the short term.
If it was being grown undercover when you bought it, and it then went straight outside when you planted it, then cold weather, followed by the high heat many areas had, will have meant it's struggled. They also need good drainage, whether potted or in the ground
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."