Azalea - Amazing Azaleas

Most people associate the azalea with spring garden colour but in Auckland's mild subtropical climate many azaleas start flowering in the autumn and continue to flower to some degree right through the winter and then put on their fabulous spring show for which they are so famous. Azaleas are actually classified botanically as separate species of rhododendrons. There are azalea species from many parts of the world but most of the autumn flowering varieties come from Asia and Japan and are among the evergreen azaleas classified as Azalea Indica.

These have hairy oval or teardrop shaped leaves on dense, branching plants that vary in height from about 30 cm. to nearly 3m. Flowers can be single or double in shades of white, pink, red, magenta, cerise and purple. Flower sizes vary greatly dependent on the variety from tiny little star-like trumpets only a few centimeters across to dramatic blooms almost the size of an orange and these are often fragrant.