I have a white azalea that is blooming for the 2nd time this year! I'm pretty sure it's not an Encore azalea, because I don't recall it blooming twice last year or the year before. Can regular azaleas bloom more than once a season? I'm in East Texas...
Angie
Some Azaleas and Rhododendrons will bloom a second time in the autumn, especially if temperatures are mild enough.
It is not what we like to see, but it does happen. In colder climates it usually happens if we have a very long frost free season or we have a cold spell and then a long warm spell in the fall. For whatever reason we are getting this in Pennsylvania this year also. Unfortunately, it usually spoils the flowers since the ones that "bloom" now don't fully open, but just show color and then die when frost hits them. Then we loose that bud and it won't bloom in the spring. I don't know if applying nitrogen fertilizer in the summer will cause this, but it may. In general it is not good to apply any fertilizer with nitrogen after early summer.
I had a thread back in early November on the same thing. It appears that this is happening pretty much across the country.
I wrote some northern friends yesterday: "Temp showing 53 now, has been as high as 58 today.. About half the azalea bushes that are supposed to bloom in spring got confused and i've had fresh azaleas on the table for about 2 weeks now. Weird -- there is most always an odd bloom here or there in the fall but I have some in quarter bloom and one looks like it might break out in full if the weather holds....or the half bloomed buds will freeze. We've only been in the thirties a coupla nights so far. I think it touched 32 one night."
I would have expected this after a blackberry winter, but we really have not had one this year.
I don't think any of them are Encore's either. What i have noticed is that none of the white or purple ones have bloomed, and none of the large trumpet styles like George Tabor -- only the common (for here) salmon colored ones and hot pinks.
Since these are not encore's, what is a little disheartening about the whole thing is that since the buds are set soon after spring bloom, then the parts or ones that bloom now will be just so much greenery in April-May when they should really be showing their stuff.
FACE
As others have posted, this *does* happen. The usual answer in newspaper gardening columns is that the the following spring's blossoming may not be quite as full. I recall this phenom from a warm fall several years ago, and there hasn't been a spring without azalea blooms here yet. :-)
a season? I'm in East Texas... >>
Hell, yes, when the weather is as crazy as it gets in New Orleans. Except mine is pink... zemedelec
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