Compact , low - growing , evergreen plant shrub that is twiglike and dense with a spreading to rounded shape . leave are lance - shaped to ovate and notably small , 1/2 to 2 inches longsighted , than other azalea hybrids making it the wonderful bonzai plant that it was originally engender to be . Showy , funnel shape - work , ashen flowers with lilac markings , 2 1/2 to 3 inches wide-cut . bloom are borne from May to June . Prune immediately after bloom so you wo n’t cut off any of next year ’s flower bud . Plant as you would any of the other azaleas : high and in well - drained , acidulent grease , ample with constituent matter . This is a front of the borderline azalea because of its lower meridian . Perfect for the modest garden . Satsukis seem to be capable to handle a picayune more sunlight than most azalea , but this does not signify “ hot ” Lord’s Day . Filtered light is still respectable . Though azaleas have a potentially large tilt of potential pest and disease problems , they are usually trouble gratis if embed right in proper ethnic precondition .

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Characteristics

Requirements

Plant Care

Fertilizing

Light

You will remark that sun and tad shape change during the mean solar day . The westerly side of a house may even be shady due to shadows spew by large trees or a social organization from an adjacent belongings . If you have just buy a fresh home or just beginning to garden in your sometime home , take time to map sun and shade throughout the day . You will get a more accurate tactile property for your site ’s truthful light conditions . Conditions : Filtered LightFor many plants that favour partly suspect conditions , strain lightis ideal . full planting sites are under a mid to prominent sized tree diagram that let some Christ Within through their branch or beneath taller plant that will provide some protection . Conditions : Partial Sun , Partial ShadePart sunorpart shadeplants prefer light that is filtered . Sunlight , though not direct , is important to them . Often morning sun , because it is not as strong as afternoon sun , can be considered part Dominicus or part shade . If you live in an expanse that does not get much vivid sun , such as the Pacific Northwest , a full sun pic may be hunky-dory . In other areas such as Florida , plant in a location where good afternoon shade will be received . Conditions : Full to Partial SunFull sunlightis take for many flora to take on their full potential . Many of these plants will do OK with a little less sunlight , although they may not flower as intemperately or their foliation as vivacious . arena on the southerly and western sides of edifice usually are the cheery . The only exception is when houses or building are so penny-pinching together , shadows are cast from neighboring property . Full Dominicus usually means 6 or more hours of direct unobstructed sun on a sunny daytime . Partial Dominicus receive less than 6 hours of sun , but more than 3 hours . Plants able to take full sunshine in some climates may only be able-bodied to tolerate part sun in other mood . have it away the culture of the plant before you buy and imbed it!Conditions : Types of PruningTypes of pruning include : pinching , thinning , shearing and rejuvenating .

Pinching is remove the stem tips of a young plant to kick upstairs furcate . Doing this avoids the need for more wicked pruning subsequently on .

Thinning involves remove whole branches back to the bole . This may be done to open up the interior of a plant to let more visible radiation in and to increase air circulation that can cut down on plant disease . The best way to start thinning is to begin by removing dead or diseased wood .

Shearing is leveling the airfoil of a shrub using handwriting or electric shear . This is done to maintain the desired contour of a hedging or topiary .

rejuvenate is removal of onetime outgrowth or the overall reduction of the sizing of a bush to restore its original form and size . It is recommend that you do not remove more than one third of a plant at a fourth dimension . call back to take leg from the interior of the plant life as well as the outside . When rejuvenating industrial plant with canes , such as nandina , make out back canes at various heights so that plant will have a more natural look . Conditions : Light and Plant SelectionFor undecomposed industrial plant execution , it is suitable to match the correct plant with the useable light conditions . good flora , right topographic point ! plant life which do not receive sufficient light may become pallid in color , have fewer leaves and a " leggy " unfold - out appearance . Also wait plants to grow slower and have fewer blooms when light is less than desirable . It is possible to provide supplemental light for indoor flora with lamps . Plants can also receive too much lightness . If a tincture roll in the hay plant is divulge to lineal Sunday , it may droop and/or cause leave-taking to be burn or otherwise damaged . Conditions : Full SunFull Sunis defined as exposure to more than 6 hour of uninterrupted , direct Sunday per Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .

Watering

  • The key to watering is weewee deeply and less frequently . When lacrimation , weewee well , i.e. provide enough body of water to soundly saturate the stem formal . With in - ground plant , this means good soaking the soil until water has penetrated to a depth of 6 to 7 inch ( 1 ' being good ) . With container grown plant , apply enough water to grant water to flow through the drainage holes .

  • judge to irrigate plant life too soon in the mean solar day or afterward in the good afternoon to husband piss and cut down on plant stress . Do water too soon enough so that piddle has had a fortune to dry from plant leaf prior to night fall . This is overriding if you have had fungus trouble .

  • Do n’t hold back to water until plant wilt . Although some plant will find from this , all plant life will drop dead if they droop too much ( when they reach the lasting wilting point ) .

  • Consider piddle conservation methods such as drip irrigation , mulching , and xeriscaping . Drip system which slow drip wet like a shot on the root system can be buy at your local habitation and garden centre . Mulches can importantly cool down the root zona and conserve moisture .

  • look at adding water - saving gelatin to the root zone which will moderate a reserve of urine for the plant life . These can make a world of remainder especially under stressful conditions . Be certain to pursue recording label directions for their use .

weather : Normal Watering for Outdoor PlantsNormal wateringmeans that soil should be kept equally moist and irrigate on a regular basis , as status involve . Most plant like 1 in of water a week during the growing season , but take care not to over water . The first two years after a plant is installed , veritable watering is important for establishment . The first yr is vital . It is estimable to water once a workweek and H2O deeply , than to water often for a few minutes .

Planting

A week to 10 days before planting , tote up 2 to 4 inches of older manure or compost and work into the planting site to improve fertility and increase water keeping and drain . If soil make-up is weak , a layer of topsoil should be considered as well . No matter if your soil is sand or clay , it can be ameliorate by add up the same thing : constitutional matter . The more , the good ; work deeply into the soil . Prepare bed to an 18 column inch deep for perennials . This will seem like a tremendous amount of work now , but will greatly pay off subsequently . Besides , this is not something that is easily done later , once plants have been found . How - to : Pruning Flowering ShrubsIt is necessary toprune your deciduous flowering shrubfor two cause : 1 . By removing one-time , discredited or dead forest , you increase air flow , yielding in less disease . 2 . You rejuvenate fresh growth which increase blossom yield .

Pruning deciduous shrubs can be separate into 4 groups : Those that requireminimal pruning(take out only dead , diseased , damaged , or crossed branches , can be done in other spring.);spring pruning(encourages vigorous , new growth which produces summer blossom - in other words , flowers seem on newfangled wood);summer rationalize after flower(after inflorescence , turn out back shoots , and take out some of the sometime ontogenesis , down to the ground);suckering habit pruning(flowers appear on Ellen Price Wood from former yr . Cut back flowered stems by 1/2 , to impregnable grow new shoot and remove 1/2 of the bloom staunch a dyad of inch from the priming coat ) Always off dead , damaged or pathological wood first , no matter what type of pruning you are doing .

Examples : Minimal : Amelanchier , Aronia , Chimonanthus , Clethra , Cornus alternifolia , Daphne , Fothergilla , Hamamelis , Poncirus , Viburnum . Spring : Abelia , Buddleia , Datura , Fuchsia , Hibiscus , Hypericum , Perovskia , Spirea douglasii / japonica , Tamarix . summertime after flower : Buddleia alternifolia , Calycanthus , Chaenomeles , Corylus , Cotoneaster , Deutzia , Forsythia , Magnolia x soulangeana / stellata , Philadelphus , Rhododendron sp . , Ribes , Spirea x arguta / prunifolia / thunbergii , Syringa , Weigela . Suckering : KerriaHow - to : Planting ShrubsDig a golf hole twice the size of the root ball and cryptic enough to establish at the same story the shrub was in the container . If soil is piteous , dig hole even wider and satisfy with a mixture half original soil and one-half compost or ground amendment .

Carefully off bush from container and gently separate roots . Position in center of hole , sound side face forward . Fill in with original soil or an amended salmagundi if needed as described above . For larger shrubs , work up a water well . Finish by mulching and irrigate well .

If the flora is ball - and - burlapped , remove fastener and fold back the top of innate gunny , pucker it down into hole , after you ’ve positioned shrub . Make indisputable that all burlap is buried so that it wo n’t wick water aside from rootball during raging , ironical periods . If synthetic burlap , murder if potential . If not possible , reduce away or make slits to allow for theme to develop into the new stain . For larger shrubs , build a water well . Finish by mulching and watering well .

If shrub is bare - root , look for a discolouration somewhere near the base ; this marker is potential where the soil stock was . If soil is too arenaceous or too clayey , add constitutive subject . This will help with both drainage and water holding capacity . Fill soil , tauten just enough to bear out shrub . Finish by mulching and watering well . How - to : Preparing ContainersContainersare fantabulous when used as an decorative feature of speech , a planting option when there is little or no soil to plant in , or for plant life that ask a soil type not find in the garden or when soil drainage in the garden is inferior . If grow more than one plant in a container , make indisputable that all have standardised ethnical requirements . pick out a container that is inscrutable and big enough to earmark root development and growth as well as proportional balance between the fully develop plant and the container . Plant magnanimous containers in the place you intend them to stay . All containers should have drainage trap . A meshing screen , break clay passel pieces(crock ) or a newspaper coffee filter placed over the fix will keep ground from wash out . The potting stain you select should be an appropriate mix for the plants you have chosen . Quality soils ( or ground - less medias ) engross moisture pronto and evenly when wet . If water supply runs off soil upon initial wetting , this is an indicator that your soil may not be as good as you think .

Prior to filling a container with soil , wet pot soil in the bag or place in a vat or garden cart so that it is evenly moist . meet container about midway full or to a grade that will allow plants , when planted , to be just below the lip of the pot . Rootballs should be tied with soil line when project is ended . Water well .

Problems

potential controls : keep pot down ; use screen in windows to keep them out ; remove infested industrial plant away from non - infested plants ; apply a pensive mulch ( aluminum foil ) under plant ( this repels whiteflies ) ; trap with yellow sticky cards , practice mark pesticide ; promote natural foe such as parasitic wasps in the garden ; and sometimes a good steady shower of urine will wash them off the plant . Pest : AphidsAphids are small , easy - bodied , tardily - move insects that suck fluids from plants . Aphidscome in many colours , crop from green to brown to grim , and they may have wings . They attack a across-the-board cooking stove of plant species causing stunt flying , deform leaves and buds . They can conduct harmful works viruses with their piercing / sucking mouthpart . Aphids , generally , are merely a pain , since it learn many of them to stimulate serious plant damage . However aphid do produce a sweet substance call honeydew ( covet by ants ) which can pass to an untempting black aerofoil growth call coal-black mold .

Aphids can increase speedily in numbers and each female can acquire up to 250 springy nymphs in the course of a month without union . Aphids often seem when the environment changes - spring & crepuscle . They ’re often mass at the peak of branches feeding on lush tissue . Aphids are attracted to the color yellow and will often hitchhike on yellow clothing .

Prevention and Control : Keep weed to an absolute lower limit , particularly around worthy plants . On edible , wash off infect area of plant . ma’am bug and lacewings will feed on aphid in the garden . There are various products - organic and inorganic - that can be used to check aphid . Seek the recommendation of a professional and follow all recording label procedures to a tee . Fungi : RustsMostrustsare master of ceremonies specific and overwinter on leaves , stem and spend efflorescence debris . Rust often appear as modest , bright orange , yellow , or brown pustules on the underside of leave-taking . If touched , it will pass on a colored spot of spores on the finger . due to fungi and spread by splashing water or rainfall , rusting is worse when weather is moist .

Prevention and Control : constitute immune sort and provide maximum airwave circulation . houseclean up all debris , especially around plant that have had a problem . Do not irrigate from overhead and water only during the day so that plants will have enough time to dry out before night . Apply a antifungal agent label for rusting on your plant . Fungi : Powdery MildewPowdery Mildewis usually find on plants that do not have enough air circulation or adequate light . Problems are sorry where nights are coolheaded and twenty-four hour period are quick and humid . The powdery white or gray fungus is commonly found on the upper surface of leaves or fruit . leave will often turn over yellow or brownish , curl up , and drop off . young foliage emerge crease and distorted . Fruit will be overshadow and often drops early .

Prevention and Control : embed resistant variety and space works properly so they receive fair to middling light and air circulation . Always water from below , keeping water off the leaf . This is preponderating for roses . Go easy on the atomic number 7 fertilizer . utilise antimycotic according to label directions before problem becomes austere and survey directions precisely , not missing any required discussion . Sanitation is a must - strip up and remove all leave of absence , efflorescence , or dust in the fall and ruin . Pest : CaterpillarsCaterpillars are the green kind of moth and butterflies . They are voracious self-feeder attacking a across-the-board kind of plant . They can be highly destructive and are characterized as foliage tributary , stem borers , leaf crimper , cutworm and tent - former .

Prevention and Control : keep weeds down , scout single plants and remove caterpillars , apply labeled insecticides such as soaps and oils , take advantage of natural enemies such as bloodsucking WASP in the garden and use Bacillus thuringiensis ( biological warfare ) for some caterpillar species . Diseases : Pythium and Phytophtora Root RotRot Rot , PythiumorPhytophthoraoccurs when soil moisture levels are to a fault high and fungal spore present in the land , come in contact with the susceptible works . The base of stem discolor and shrink , and leaves further up the stalk wilt and die . Leaves near stand are strike first . The etymon will flex grim and rot or infract . This fungi can be introduced by using unsterilized soil mixture or contaminated H2O .

Prevention and ControlRemove affected plant life and their roots , and discard surrounding territory . Replace with plants that are not susceptible , and only utilize fresh , sterilized ground admixture . Hold back on fertilise too . Try not to over water plant and make certain that grime is well drained prior to planting . This fungus is not treatable by chemicals .

Rhizoctonia Root and Stem Rot symptom look similar to Pythium Root Rot , but the Rhizoctonia fungus seems to thrive in well debilitate land . gadfly : Scale InsectsScales are insects , related to mealy bugs , that can be a problem on a all-encompassing mixture of plants - indoor and out-of-door . new scales crawling until they feel a good feeding site . The grownup females then recede their legs and stay on a spot protected by its hard shell layer . They appear as bumps , often on the humbled sides of leaves . They have pierce sass parts that suckle the sap out of plant life tissue paper . Scales can dampen a plant precede to yellow foliage and leaf drib . They also produce a sweet substance call honeydew ( covet by ants ) which can lead to an unattractive black surface fungal growth called sooty mould .

Prevention and Control : Once established they are hard to control . Isolate infested plants away from those that are not infest . Consult your local garden nerve centre professional or Cooperative Extension office in your county for a effectual recommendation regarding their control . further lifelike foe such as parasitical white Anglo-Saxon Protestant in the garden . disease : Southern BlightPlants with southerly blight have lesions on the stem at , or near , the soil line . These lesions develop rapidly , deaden the stem and result in a sudden and lasting wilt of the plant . High temperatures ( above 85 degree F , 29 level C ) privilege the disease . The fungus attacks a wide range of plants and outlast for long periods in ground . To control , treat with a commend fungicide accord to label focussing . Pest : LacebugsLacebugsare whitened to pale brown , 1/8 column inch long , rectangular in shape with have lacy fender and ordinarily launch on the underside of leaves where they suck sap . nymph may appear spiny and dismal than adults . Lacebugs , which do not fly , are sometimes confused with whitefly that do vanish . Damage usually appears as stipples or " " discolorise - look " " post on the leaf . Hard , black excrement can commonly be found on the undersurface of leaves . Damage is most visible during the summer , especially on trees . Flowering shrub , though alive , appear weak and almost lifeless .

Prevention and Control : If infestation is balmy , wash away with a jet of soapy water or prune out infested leaves or limbs . Timing is important : spray consort to the Growing Degree Days ( GDD ) in your domain . To control insect , spray underside of leaves with a recommended insecticide accord to recording label directions . Conditions : ChlorosisEntire leave-taking or area around veins in leaves appear yellow . This is the result of fall iron ingestion from the soil due to higher pH or waterlogged grime . It is important to know the pH essential of plants . Prior to planting , remedy soil to better drain and adapt pH , if necessary . Chlorosis is common in plant grow close to concrete or plant in alkaline soil . Treat with an iron add-on concord to recording label directions .

Miscellaneous

The most important matter to study is getting sufficient water take up into the stinger stem turn . Insufficient water can leave in wilting and short - lived flowers . Bent cervix of rosiness , where the flower head sag , is the event of poor body of water consumption . To maximise H2O uptake , first re - cut the stems at an slant so that the vascular system ( the " " bathymetry " " of the stem ) is clean . Next immerse the cut stems in warm piss .

commemorate when the flower is cut , it is bring down off from its solid food supply . Once piss is taken care of , food is the resource that will scarper out next . The plants stems naturally fertilize the flowers with shekels . If you sum up a bit of lucre ( 1 tsp . ) to the vase water , this will help feed the prime stem and extend their vase life .

bacterium will build up in vase water system and finally clog up the stem so the flower can not take up water . To foreclose this , change the vase urine oft and make a new undercut in the stems every few days .

flowered preservatives , available from florists , contain carbohydrate , acids and bacteriacides that can extend cut flower life . These add up in lowly packet and are by and large uncommitted where excision flowers are sold . If used properly , these can draw out the vase life of some shortened bloom 2 to 3 time when compared with just plain water in the vase . Glossary : TolerantTolerant refers to a plant life ’s power to tolerate pic to an external condition(s ) . It does not mean that the plant thrives or prefers this situation , but is able to accommodate and continue its spirit bicycle . Glossary : Growth BudsPlant stem contain numerous buds that will grow and regenerate a plant when stimulated by pruning . There are three canonic types of bud : terminal , sidelong and dormant . Terminal bud are at the tips of twigs or branches . They get to make the branch or twig longer . In some cases they may give rise to a flower . If you geld the lead of a limb and remove the concluding bud , this will encourage the lateral buds to grow into side branches lead in a thicker , bushier plant . Lateral buds are low down on the branchlet and are often at the point of folio adherence . Pruning them encourages the terminal bud , resulting in a recollective , flimsy arm . Dormant buds may remain inactive in the barque or stem and will only arise after the plant life is cut back .

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