Azaleas are one of the quintessential southern plants gracing us with their beautiful blooms of all colors every Spring. 

Azaleas do best when planted in the early spring or early fall.  They prefer an acidic soil in a well drained area and do well with a natural mulch, pine straw or pine bark mulch.  Azaleas need at least 4 hours of sun a day and do great planted in partial sun under trees.  

The best time to prune and fertilize azaleas is right after the blooms drop usually in the late spring. I prefer Fertilome Azalea & Evergreen Food Plus with Systemic because it feeds plants and protects against insect pests in one application.  You want to look for a product with Imidacloprid as the insecticide because it is absorbed by the roots and travels throughout the plant. 

Insects that you need to watch for are lace bugs, aphids, scale and others.  A good dose of neem oil will help with these.  Neem is an organic product available in both concentrate and ready to use forms that have a lot of good uses in your yard and garden.  

There are a few diseases that attack azaleas including canker and powdery mildew.  A fungicide with Myclobutanil can be helpful to prevent and control damaging diseases. Systemic products are a favorite of mine because they are easy to use and protect the entire plant, including new growth. No spraying, just mix & pour around the base of plant.  

It won’t be long before we will be able to enjoy the beautiful colors of the azaleas around town with Spring right around the corner.

(Mitzi Thomas owns Minden Farm & Garden LLC. Watch for her column on Fridays in Webster Parish Journal.)