Azalea x 'MARTHA HITCHCOCK'

Glenn Dale is a hybrid group of evergreen azaleas that originated in the USA in 1935. The director of US National Arboretum B.Y.Morrison established a hybridizing programme whose aim was to select azaleas with large flowers, extended flowering time and sufficient cold hardiness for Washington DC area. He registered the first 440 cultivars in 1941 and the last few 11 years later. These azaleas are eye-catching plants and we offer plants which are hardy enough for Central-European climate.

Martha Hitchcock is a true sensation azalea from Glenn Dale hybrid group. This beauty bears extra large flowers that are 6 cm across, white in the throat grading to neony pink towards the margins. The flowering plant looks like a thousand of pink torches all lit up at once. It starts blooming in early June and continues for about 3 weeks. Its leaves are mid green, ovate, larger than on Japanese azaleas. They are evergreen but a large portion of foliage from inside the shrub may fall off before and during winter. It grows at medium growth rate to an airy bush.

If you don’t like the airy appearance with defoliated branches you can prune or clip them immediately after flowering to achieve a denser and more compact shrub. If so, do not use fertilizers enhancing growth rate. The size of new branches would get out hand and spoil the shape you are planning to gain. They need light, permeable soil that is acid, constantly moist (keep azaleas mulched at all times) and moderately fertile. Use fertilizers for rhododendrons and azaleas, or ericaceous plants. The best soil mix is 1/3 of peat, 1/3 of leaf-mould or lime-free compost, and 1/3 of soil from the hole where you are going to plant it. Azaleas have shallow roots, so do not plant them too deep. Glenn Dale azaleas prefer semi-shade or filtered sun. They can take full sun only for a part of the day. Hardy to USDA zone 6 (-23°C), perhaps a little more on a protected site.

Last update 17-12-2010