Pick Your Palette
There’s no simpler way to feel at home in your garden than to surround yourself with colors that inspire and speak to you. Planting reblooming Encore Azaleas ensures you’ll have that color three seasons of the year. Here are few tips for color considerations.
- Use the 1-2-3 approach. Decide if you want to use one, two or three or more colors. A monochromatic planting appears uniform, but uses different hues to add an artist’s touch. The two-color approach visually enlarges small spaces, while using three or more creates a bold and dramatic landscape.
- Pick a pattern. Reds and oranges such as Autumn Embers® and Autumn Ruby® warm the landscape while pink hues like Autumn Sundance® and Autumn Debutante® add a classic color. Purples like Autumn Lilac® and Autumn Majesty® cool the space, whites such as Autumn Lily® and Autumn Moonlight® add contrast, and bicolor Encore Azaleas like Autumn Starburst® are edgy and freckly fun.
- Use hues from your home. Use your home’s color as a backdrop to harmonize or contrast your plantings, or match your trim or door with your Encore Azaleas.
Select The Spot
A gardening rule of thumb is to put the right plant in the right place. Keep in mind:
- Encore Azaleas achieve their signature multi-season blooms best with 4-6 hours of direct sunlight. Ideal placement is morning light and afternoon shade for protection from intense sun.
- Encore Azaleas come in two general sizes. Dwarf Encore Azaleas (2-3’ tall by 3-4’ wide) such as Autumn Chiffon™ and Autumn Carnival® shine alongside flowers in borders, as foundation plantings and as small walkway hedges. Intermediate Encore Azaleas (4-5’ tall by 3-4’ wide) make excellent accent plants, create stunning displays in larger spaces and form beautiful privacy hedges.
- Potted azaleas add color to porches and patios, highlight spaces within the landscape and serve as accent plants within the garden. Encore Azaleas in containers offer countless ways to brighten lawns and gardens of all sizes and styles.
- Encore Azaleas allow your walkway to work for you. Create a direct path to your door, a meandering trail or a beautiful space to pause along the way with azaleas placed in just the right design.
Plant Your Masterpiece
Followed consistently, these simple steps will help ensure that your azaleas remain a beautiful and successful part of your landscape for years to come:
- Turn soil well and dig a hole twice as wide as it is deep.
- Mix organic material with your soil, putting some into each hole.
- Remove the azalea from its pot, loosen the root ball lightly with your fingers and moisten.
- Set the azalea into the hole with the top of the root ball slightly above soil level.
- Pull the soil around the plant, water thoroughly and cover with mulch.
Pro Tips:
- While it’s fine to plant your Encore Azaleas in spring, fall or winter (where possible) planting allows roots to develop before it’s time for your plants to bloom again.
- Follow the plant spacing recommendations on the Encore tag.
Provide (Just A Little) TLC
Planting is just the first step. Continued care throughout the year will lead to a healthy plant and bountiful blooms.
- Keep roots moist as they develop.
- Prune your Encore Azaleas immediately after they flower in spring to stimulate growth and flowering during their second bloom cycle.
- Fertilize spring-planted azaleas soon after planting with the recommended doses.
- Add a few inches of mulch in late fall, before the first frost. Cover azaleas (especially those planted in fall and winter) with an insulating cover for cold weather protection when freezes arrive.
Enjoy The Blooms … Season After Season
Once the color selection, garden design, and planting of your Encore Azaleas is complete, you’ll discover the many reasons to love Encore Azaleas, season after season, year after year. With three seasons of color, more than 30 varieties to choose from and little maintenance needed, Encore Azaleas create a stunning masterpiece across the canvas of your yard all year long!