My 'Ben Oki' azalea

[Brian Van Fleet]

Won’t be long now...

 

[JudyB]

likelikelikelike...

 

[just.wing.it]

Drumrolllllllll.....

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Been on the road a lot this week, and haven’t been able to catch shots or bud-select. I’ll see if it’s worth the effort at this point in the blooming process maybe on a break in the action later today. Here is a shot as it sits now.

 

[barrosinc]

Do you wire branches on this beauty? Or basically clip and grow (after the structure wiring at the beggining)?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Do you wire branches on this beauty? Or basically clip and grow (after the structure wiring at the beggining)?

Basically clip and grow at this point. Some wiring as needed, but not much.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Here is what I do with this one when I have time. Kurume azaleas have 3 flowers per bud, which looks crowded when they’re all allowed to open. As blooming begins, I try to remove 2 of the flowers per bud. Before and after of the individual bud:

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

And the effect over a branch, before and after:

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Here is the full tree, before and after:

What this enables, is a very even blooming across the entire tree, because you can select individual flowers that are about at the same stage of opening throughout the entire tree. It also effectively creates 2 full-bloom phases. The second will be peaking in a few days.

 

[cmeg1]

Nice work! Extend the bloom season

 

[just.wing.it]

Here is the full tree, before and after:
View attachment 237115View attachment 237116
What this enables, is a very even blooming across the entire tree, because you can select individual flowers that are about at the same stage of opening throughout the entire tree. It also effectively creates 2 full-bloom phases. The second will be peaking in a few days.

Dude!
That's so cool.

Thanks for sharing that.....now all I need to do is keep my azaleas from too many freeze thaw cycles and dying on me!

 

[Lazylightningny]

Brian, you've done amazing things with this tree.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Good morning:

 

[JoeH]

Nice work!!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Peaking again...a parting shot.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Tonight, all the flowers were removed, and the top layer of soil was replaced. I also added a heavy dose of organic acidic blueberry fertilizer. I’ll give it a week or so, then prune it back pretty hard again. It responded very well to that last year.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Couple shots of the underside.

 

[Hartinez]

Cleaning up the buds like that is pretty incredible. I just love seeing process shots like that. If allowed, will all 3 buds open through the flowering season and if so, do they appear less spectacular due to the space limitations? Excellent, excellent tree Brian.

 

[Carol 83]

Tonight, all the flowers were removed, and the top layer of soil was replaced. I also added a heavy dose of organic acidic blueberry fertilizer. I’ll give it a week or so, then prune it back pretty hard again. It responded very well to that last year.
View attachment 238513View attachment 238515View attachment 238516View attachment 238517

 

[ml_work]

Brian
You may have said / answered this before, I have read this thread many times but did not tonight. Question, why remove all the flowers tonight, they still seem in good shape, what happens if you just let them fall off as they die?
Beautiful Tree, you have done a wonderful job with it from the start of a shrub.