Azalea
The azalea is a nectar rich plant, it provides a large stable meal for our pollinator friends and is easily one of the top most savoured by our bee friends!
Some bees are deliberately fed on Azalea/Rhododendron nectar in parts of Turkey, it produces a mind-altering, potentially medicinal, and occasionally lethal honey known as Mad honey.
In China the cultural Meaning of owning or gifting an azalea is “thinking of home bush” therefore makes an accurate gift for someone you miss dearly.
Azaleas make up two sub-genera of rhododendrons, both are very dangerous to digest due to them containing a lethal substance called Andromedotoxin, they were once so infamous for their toxicity in fact, that to receive a bouquet full of the flowers in a black vase was a well acknowledged death threat!
Bloom: March - June
Growth: 1-10Ft depending on the variety
Type: flowering evergreen shrub
Light Requirements: Part sun - Part shade
Pests: Lace bug - Scales - Caterpillars - Weevils - Mites -
Borers - Thrips - Moths - Aphids
Cold Hardy: yes
Reproduction: seeds & propagation cuttings
Pruning: yearly& dead flowers
Placement: Outdoor or Indoor (keep soil moist and temp low for indoor azaleas).
PH: 4.5-6.0 Native: Asia - Europe - North America & other continents.
Family: Ericaceae
Other Names: n/a
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- Miriam's Garden 20/07/2022