Outdoor Azalea Wintering in 7A

[gottmeinwasist]

Welcome to the forum! Always good to see another New Englander.

Re: local bonsai resources- There is New England Bonsai Gardens in Bellingham- a bit further from you than Bonsai West in Littleton but very much worth the drive if you can make it. There is a club there that usually meets first Saturday of the month if you'd like to check it out.

I believe there is another bonsai club that meets periodically in or near Topsfield, though I have not visited them personally and am not sure of their schedule.

Also for what it's worth Brookline is zone 6b according to the latest USDA maps, a bit colder than 7a, though your local microclimate may differ of course.

Thank you! I misread the new USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map! 6B it is!

 

[Paradox]

From my experience with florist Azaleas and I have a few of them ,that I've had 20 years or so.
one of them I kept in the house all the time , and it would bloom twice a year.
however I keep them all in my garage over the winter ,with windows so they are getting light
an it doesn't drop below freezing most of the time.. I know not everyone doesn't has that kind of set up
but it works for me.

 

[Paradox]

@steve27 is a personal friend of mine, I'm just messing with him

 

[Glaucus]

Thank you. As I said... gifted to me so I had no control over its choice or arrival at my doorstep. Just want to keep it healthy and thriving now that it's in my possession.
Why do you think it was grown indoors based on the photos? Just curious. The meager paperwork that came with it only says "outdoor bonsai."
I think it's worth the energy investment to nurture this into/continue it as a bonsai specimen. I think most bonsai specimen START as "other" trees/plants which are trained into a new environment as a bonsai... ?

And, thanks - I misread the new USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map! 6B it is!

I can't be sure. Just speculating. And when I said 'indoors' I meant to put it in quotes because that should refer to a greenhouse.
I just want to make sure you are set up for the idea that this is a zone 8 azalea, grown in a greenhouse inside a block of peat, then had that peat rootball cut to be smaller, put in a bonsai pot, filled the space left with gravel. And now you have it on your zone 6.
Which is all different from getting a local azalea bonsai, that has been growing outdoors & very healthily in the same bonsai pot it is now in.