Strange Azalea

[David E. Ross]

I have an informal hedge of 'George Taber' azaleas in front of my camellias. The azaleas are blooming right now. A close-up photo of a flower is at .

One of the plants has a branch with flowers that are all dark pink (a color sport), resembling 'Formosa'. (A photo of a 'Formosa' bush in bloom is at .) The other flowers on this same plant are definitely 'George Taber'.

Has anyone else seen such a strange color sport?

[mleblanca]

Hi David Yes I have such an azalea. It was here when we moved in, and I don't know the name of it. It does look very much like 'George Taber'. (so I am going with that as a name) It is rather large robust plant, 4 ft and I keep it pruned to that size. It is also very good at rooting its bottom branches and producing new plants.

So Yes, it has had solid darkish pink/magenta flowers produced on a branch, as yours has done. But it also has produced branches that have blooms that are bi- colored. They look as if someone took a ruler and drew a line right down the middle of each bloom. One side of the flower is the solid dark pink and the other side of the "line" is a pure white. This occurs every few years, not every year. I would say that "George" is a product of a cross between a pink plant and a white one, and every so often the genes "separate" into the two parent plants. (no photos, sorry)

Emilie NorCal