www.ozbreed.com.au

www.bestplants.com.au

Landscape Azaleas - The Encore Azaleas

Autumn Royalty™  Rhododendron  Hybrid ‘CONLEC’ PBR and Autumn Twist™ Rhododendron Hybrid ‘CONLEP’ PBR

By Katrina Layt

Autumn Royalty is a landscape Azalea bred from Fourth of July. It is one of the very few Azaleas to be lace bug resistant in Australia. It is a repeat bloomer in spring, summer and autumn which will create interest for most of the year. Autumn Royalty is a true landscape Azalea as it is very sun tough, tolerates extreme humidity, heat, cold and has a very vigorous root system. After 12 months their root system is deep enough to become quite drought tolerant. When most people think of Azaleas they think of old world charm, but not of tough plants. Autumn Royalty has that old world charm with the added benefit of being tough and being a repeat bloomer, so you can get the best of both categories in one plant. The flowers on Autumn Royalty are beautiful and large with its bright fuchsia colour displayed multiple times a year. Autumn Royalty has deep green foliage and upright growth with a height of 1.25m and a width of 1.25m.
Autumn Royalty’s smaller cousin is the new Autumn Twist, which is also a lace bug resistant variety. It is slightly thinner at 1m wide with a height of 1.2m. Autumn Twist’s flower is stunning with scattered fuchsia on white and an occasional full fuchsia flower in the mix. This unique flower is also large so there is no missing its beauty.

At Ozbreed in this last couple of hot dry weeks the Azalea's have survived. The key is to keep them watered throughout their first summer, it is very important for their survival and the next summer they should go by without much water. This has happened with our 18 month old Azaleas, they didn't get much water and wilted a little but survived, even in extreme heat the Azaleas will need some water to look good and survive. The younger ones that were only planted late last year were watered too late in the summer and died. They need a good full year of establishment.

For more information on these plants and supply please contact Ozbreed on 02 4577 2977 or info@ozbreed.com.au. These plants are available from Azalea Grove Nursery in QLD, 07 3297 0255 and Benara Nurseries in WA, 08 9405 0000.

Azaleas wilting after extreme heat and very little water, but surviving with only a couple of top up waters to get through the whole summer.

Autumn Royalty

Autumn Twist

Autumn Royalty in dry soil after extreme heat