chopped up Azaleas

[Eric Group]

Oh wait, there's more...
Satsuki "Miyuki"- this is one I am super excited about! These are very horizontal growers, tiny leaves, GORGEOUS multi-colored blooms with white, Pink, and swirled blooms on the same plant! This is an experiment to see how it reacts to a major chop. I know the pink blooms can be more dominant on some of the multi-colored blooming plants (from what I have read anyway..), so I am hoping it keeps the bloom variance after the chops.
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Satsuki "Beni Kashima"-This one is a MONSTER!! With some MONSTER wounds.. Branches were literally growing below the original soil level and all sorts of mess, so it took some cutting to get back to the bones! I was able to salvage a good many ground layered multi-trunkers from these branches I cut off and I am really excited about them! They did not miss a BEAT when I repotted them and this big guy is throwing out new buds at a fast pace right now...

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The blooms- great red color, cool multi-layer almost rose like bloom.
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Beni gettin Busy! this guy scared me.. He started kind of slow, and after the big scars/chops.. I was worried to begin with. No need! Once the growths tarted, it EXPLODED, just like the rest of the crew.
All these trees I chopped back and only TWO have had issues. One tree died. It had it's trunk split while trying to bend it earlier this year and I was too bold in trying to re-pot it this year as well. Might have died regardless, but it DEFF kicked it when I re-potted it.. the second Hampton Beauty I posted is not doing well. It keeps pushing little green buds... and they DIE. I did it a couple weeks later and the weather turned to DESERT on me as soon as I worked it! 100+ temps, no rain.. not good for azaleas. Added moss to the top layer- live moss, then sphagnum as well.. hoping it will pick up steam... We will see.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

"the second Hampton Beauty I posted is not doing well. It keeps pushing little green buds..."

Eric,
There is a fungus that can cause this, it hits some mine this time of year, especially the gumpos. I spray with Daconil and it helps. The fungus seems to pop up as soon as the temps got really hot, some of the azaleas seem more resistant to others. Give it a good spraying and see it it helps. I spray mine three times about five days apart.

John

 

[Eric Group]

"the second Hampton Beauty I posted is not doing well. It keeps pushing little green buds..."

Eric,
There is a fungus that can cause this, it hits some mine this time of year, especially the gumpos. I spray with Daconil and it helps. The fungus seems to pop up as soon as the temps got really hot, some of the azaleas seem more resistant to others. Give it a good spraying and see it it helps. I spray mine three times about five days apart.

John

That is a possibility! It had some ugly leaves when I bought it- the normal black spots you get on Azaleas- but I treated it a few times and the new growth looked fine so I thought the tree was good to go. I will break out the antifungals on it this week and see if he starts responding for me.

Thanks john!

 

[Eric Group]

Beni gettin Busy! this guy scared me.. He started kind of slow, and after the big scars/chops.. I was worried to begin with. No need! Once the growths tarted, it EXPLODED, just like the rest of the crew. View attachment 77705 View attachment 77706 View attachment 77707 View attachment 77708 View attachment 77709
All these trees I chopped back and only TWO have had issues. One tree died. It had it's trunk split while trying to bend it earlier this year and I was too bold in trying to re-pot it this year as well. Might have died regardless, but it DEFF kicked it when I re-potted it.. the second Hampton Beauty I posted is not doing well. It keeps pushing little green buds... and they DIE. I did it a couple weeks later and the weather turned to DESERT on me as soon as I worked it! 100+ temps, no rain.. not good for azaleas. Added moss to the top layer- live moss, then sphagnum as well.. hoping it will pick up steam... We will see.

The other great thing about this Beni- I got 2-3 really cool multi-trunk rafts off of him when I repotted! Most made it just fine and are striking plenty of new growth on their own now! I love the blooms on these, so I am excited to have a multiples to work with, and I needed some better multi- trunk azaleas! Not too shabby of a deal if you ask me... I think I paid $15 for this tree- got one of my largest/ best azalea trunks and a bunch of other trees in the deal? I will take that any day!

 

[Eric Group]

Chopped up another one a couple weeks ago.. . did this one a little different! It is another Miyuki (my favorite Satsuki at this point).. Not sure if this one has Zero potential or the MOST potential out of any so far! Has a strange, odd sized irregular base, decent trunk and because of a successful hedge pruning style chop back and crazy back budding on EVERY stub I left.. I think it has the potential to look nice and full again REAL fast!

 

[Vin]

This one looks to have the makings of an interesting cascade. Just a thought..

 

[Eric Group]

That is certainly a possibility!

 

[Eric Group]

Oh wait, there's more...
Satsuki "Miyuki"- this is one I am super excited about! These are very horizontal growers, tiny leaves, GORGEOUS multi-colored blooms with white, Pink, and swirled blooms on the same plant! This is an experiment to see how it reacts to a major chop. I know the pink blooms can be more dominant on some of the multi-colored blooming plants (from what I have read anyway..), so I am hoping it keeps the bloom variance after the chops.
View attachment 75701 View attachment 75702
Satsuki "Beni Kashima"-This one is a MONSTER!! With some MONSTER wounds.. Branches were literally growing below the original soil level and all sorts of mess, so it took some cutting to get back to the bones! I was able to salvage a good many ground layered multi-trunkers from these branches I cut off and I am really excited about them! They did not miss a BEAT when I repotted them and this big guy is throwing out new buds at a fast pace right now...

View attachment 75703 View attachment 75704 View attachment 75706

The blooms- great red color, cool multi-layer almost rose like bloom.
View attachment 75705

Miyuki getting right! The leaves came out TINY on this guy after the chop... they are regularly quite small, sharp point with a DARK green color, but after the chop they are even smaller than normal!

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Looking great!! I wish that I could find some different varieties here. What does the flower look like on this one?

John

 

[erb.75]

i have to admit i'm a little envious of how many awesome azalea's you have

I have just one azalea I got this year. Old root stump that looks quite unusual. Can't wait to see the colors in the spring. I will have to post pics. I also have a texas scarlet flowering quince. Trying to decide with that one if I should let it thicken up over then next 5 years or make a shohin/mame from it.

But seriously, those are some sweet azaleas

 

[Eric Group]

Looking great!! I wish that I could find some different varieties here. What does the flower look like on this one?

John

This one has a great multi- color bloom. It actually blooms three different colors on the same plant- white, white with stark pink stripes, and two shades of pink- one is pretty light, the other very dark, almost red. My favorite blooms of any I have found to this point. I have been trying for some time to find a multi- colored bloomer and I have three different kinds I found this year! The Miyuki, Hilda Niblet and a "Gumbi"/ Gumpo variety with slight variations of the light pink blooms.

I will get some pics of the blooms up soon.

 

[Eric Group]

All three of these are from the same Miyuki:

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Very pretty. Maybe i will run across one, one of these days. Did the fungicide work for the others, I am having a lot of problems with it this year?

John

 

[Eric Group]

Very pretty. Maybe i will run across one, one of these days. Did the fungicide work for the others, I am having a lot of problems with it this year?

John

I think my tree that was not pushing growth well has finally kicked the bucket... I went outside yesterday and noticed a large vertical crack had popped open down the length of the trunk... Like you'd see on an old dead tree that had started to dry out... Surprising because it had just recently pushed the start of a new bud out... A few weeks ago! Oh well... I straight up butchered a bunch of azaleas this year, and I really only lost one- that isn't a bad survival ratio.

Those Miyuki seem hard to find.... There are plenty of others that bloom similarly though I think. I just love the varied color blooms! I have two really nice ones now, and a bunch of cuttings I am trying to root as well. If I get a couple good ones going, maybe we can work something out.

 

[Mellow Mullet]

OK, sounds like a plan.

 

[Eric Group]

Just an update on a few of my favorites:
"Gumbi"- thanks John! Immediately became one of my favorite trees!

Big momma chinzan... "momma" because she has yielded dozens of cuttings!!
Miyuki
I am only doing a little pruning for shape at this point and probably nothing more until next spring... I want some blooms!

 

[Robert E Holt]

Nice assortment of Azaleas. I just scored several nice nursery azaleas myself. Just happened by a local nursery this weekend in a part of town that I don't ussually frequent. Turns out they pride themselves in having the largest selection of Japanese Azaleas in north Alabama (who knew?). I picked up several Kurume (Christmas Cheer, Hinodegiri, and Snow), and a Satsuki (Johga). The Johga has several different flower colors on one plant. They have four or five more varieties of satsuki and several more Kurume, I just couldn't buy them all. I picked some that they had the fewest of figuring I could go back for more later.

 

[Eric Group]

Nice assortment of Azaleas. I just scored several nice nursery azaleas myself. Just happened by a local nursery this weekend in a part of town that I don't ussually frequent. Turns out they pride themselves in having the largest selection of Japanese Azaleas in north Alabama (who knew?). I picked up several Kurume (Christmas Cheer, Hinodegiri, and Snow), and a Satsuki (Johga). The Johga has several different flower colors on one plant. They have four or five more varieties of satsuki and several more Kurume, I just couldn't buy them all. I picked some that they had the fewest of figuring I could go back for more later.

That is one Hell of a find Robert! What is the name of the nursery?

 

[Robert E Holt]

Not sure I want to reveal my source before i get what I want. But, since you don't live in the area, Indian Creek Wholesale Nursery. I may actually wind up with some I am willing to trade. Some of what they had were a pot full of sticks with no defined trunk. I tried to pick some with single large trunks, but a couple had extra plants in the pot. Probably just they way they repotted them, but with the nursery guy standing there it was hard to dig around in them to find out. I'll start a thread tomorrow an post some pictures. Is it too later in the season to repot or chop them back?

 

[Eric Group]

Not sure I want to reveal my source before i get what I want. But, since you don't live in the area, Indian Creek Wholesale Nursery. I may actually wind up with some I am willing to trade. Some of what they had were a pot full of sticks with no defined trunk. I tried to pick some with single large trunks, but a couple had extra plants in the pot. Probably just they way they repotted them, but with the nursery guy standing there it was hard to dig around in them to find out. I'll start a thread tomorrow an post some pictures. Is it too later in the season to repot or chop them back?

Well... In short, yes. You have certainly missed the ideal time. If you chop this time of year, you will not only most likely ruin any blooms (depends on your goals as to whether this is a problem or not) but it is close enough to winter that you might have a tree trying to throw loads of tender new shoots all Winter! This is not a fatal issue for a healthy tree, but it does stress them out I am sure. I did this with a tree I was rescuing from a spot in my yard where it just got WASTED with a fungus, and the poor thing tried to grow new buds all winter, they'd pop out, get fried by the cold, new ones would pop out... Continuous cycle all winter. It still grew like MAD that Spring though...

As for a repot, probably best to just wait for Spring on all these guys. I did this crazy chop/ repot with probably a dozen or so azaleas over the past... Two years I guess and I think I only lost two. I usually do it after blooming, and I recommend leaving SOME leaves on it. If you completely skin them back to NO growth, they will come back sometimes... But sometimes they WON'T!

I am all about the trades! I have an azalea FARM on the other side of the city from me.., about a 45 minute ride or so... So I can get a HUGE number of varieties myself, but I'd sure like to get one of those Johgas!