{"id":1128,"date":"2011-05-10T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2011-05-10T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2011-05-05T13:31:28","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T17:31:28","slug":"growing-azaleas-in-outdoor-containers-year-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2011\/05\/10\/growing-azaleas-in-outdoor-containers-year-around\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Azaleas in Outdoor Containers Year-Around"},"content":{"rendered":"
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'Elsie Lee' azalea (photo by Sam Kinsey)<\/p><\/div>\n

In the Southern Appalachian region (USDA zones 6 and 7), if you desire to grow azaleas in above ground containers year around, you must select winter hardy cultivars. Two of the best for containers are \u2018Elsie Lee\u2019 (2\u00bd- inch wide semi-double light lavender blooms) and \u2018Herbert\u2019 (1 \u00be- inch wide bright purple with dark blotch). \u2018Elsie Lee\u2019 boasts a neat, compact shrub form while \u2018Herbert\u2019 has a dense, slightly more spreading habit.<\/p>\n

Both exhibit exceptionally long flower period. Spring – summer leaves are medium green, changing to bright yellow, orange, and\/or red shades in the autumn. They\u2019re mid-season bloomers and vigorous growers, attaining 3-4 feet in height and width in 10 years.<\/p>\n

Grow azaleas to keep roots cool inside the lightly colored (not black) containers. Follow a regular watering and nutrient feeding schedule to establish a deep, extensive root system. Pot in a well drained peat and bark based potting soil or medium with a 2-3\u201d surface layer of mulch. Feed with an acid-based liquid fertilizer like Miracle-Gro\u2122 or Miracid\u2122. Prune azaleas as needed to shape plants and to eliminate dead or diseased twigs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘Elsie Lee’ is a Tony Shammarello hybrid from Ohio. ‘Herbert’ azalea (<\/strong>R.<\/em> yedoense var. poukhanense<\/em> x R.<\/em> ‘Hexe’) is a fabulous David Gable hybrid from Pennsylvania. Bred more than 50 years ago, they\u2019re winter hardy to -15 degrees F (USDA Zones 5-9).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Southern Appalachian region (USDA zones 6 and 7), if you desire to grow azaleas in above ground containers year around, you must select winter hardy cultivars. Two of the best for containers are \u2018Elsie Lee\u2019 (2\u00bd- inch wide semi-double light lavender blooms) and \u2018Herbert\u2019 (1 \u00be- inch wide bright purple with dark blotch). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,709,710,551,202,601,630,7,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1183,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions\/1183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}