Encore Azalea help

[Peter]

Can anyone offer information or point me to a quality site offering information. on Encore Azaleas??

The Encore Azalea site reads like a late night info-mercial... all marketing hype with little or no substance.

Here are my questions....

Encore says their plants can be used in container gardens... that's all the information they give. Are all Encore's suitable for container plants or just the smaller ones.

What size containers ??? Is there a ratio between the size of the plant versus the rootball, that can be used to figure out the size of the container ??

Azalea's in general have surface root systems.... if one was using this as a container plant, would you go wider or deeper.

Last, what type of soil mix would be suggested for a container planting ??

I wasted a lot of time trying to get simple answers from Encore, (shame on them). Just to ask a simple question, they wanted name, address, phone number, email address and all the good stuff that can be used to place me on yet another unwanted marketing mailing list.

Can any of you good people here provide answers or information or even a reference to a knowledgeable site offering information about Encore's ??

Thanks in advance !!!

Peter

[Stephen Henning]

Encore azaleas are evergreen azaleas and can be treated similar to most evergreen azaleas. When growing in containers, make sure the soil temperature does not rise from the container being in the sun and make doubly sure that you have good drainage. Poor drainage and hot roots are the main killers of azaleas.

The container size is important. Deep provides good drainage and moisture management. Wide is good since, as you mention, azaleas roots are very shallow and reach out near the drip line.

The soil is the basic acidic azalea & rhododendron soil with lots of stones at the bottom to assure good drainage.

Make sure you shade the pot from the sun and provide good drainage. I like to use a pot inside another pot. The outside pot provides good shade for the inside pot. Make sure you have good air circulation between the pots. Both pots must have drain holes in the bottom.

For information on growing azaleas visit my website below.

[Peter]

Thanks Stephen, the information is truly appreciated. I have several planters in mind that will make excellent containers while providing double walled protection from heat and provide adequate moisture.

The drip line pretty much limits the choice of azaleas to the smaller sizes for my purposes, allowing the roots to spread out naturally instead of being cramped and root bound.

Thanks again for your help, knowledge and the links to your website !! Ahh... Longwood Gardens - Lovely place in both summer and winter. Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD, while it pales by comparision, is also a favorite.

anecdotal story about Longwood.... I was there with the grandchildren about two years ago, down by the Italian Water Gardens across from which is a rather large pond. Just out of curiousity, I sprinkled some cookie crumbs into the water... and sure enough, a couple of rather large cats came up to feed. Delighted the kids to no end.

Peter