18 Evergreen Azalea Hybrids We Love

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No plant has shaped the Southern garden more than an evergreen shrub known as the azalea—particularly the Indica azalea which found its way to the South via Japan and got its name because at the time it was discovered, Asia was known as the East Indies. Making its Southern debut in the late mid 1800s, the Indica stunned onlookers with its statuesque size and mind-boggling blossoms of red, pink, white, purple, and salmon, and the azalea quickly became a staple of every Southern garden.

Today, there are more than a dozen groups of evergreen azaleas (all part of the Rhododendron family), and an increasing number of hybrids have such mixed parentage that they don't fit conveniently into any category. The list below includes some of the most popular groups and varieties we love. Except as noted, the bloom season for all of these hybrids is late winter or spring. Plants grown in greenhouses can be forced for winter bloom. Size varies considerably, but most of these slow-growing plants reach 2–5 feet high and at least as wide.

Aromi hybrids

Like their better-known deciduous counterparts, the evergreen Aromi hybrids were bred to tolerate the heat in the South. Developed by Dr. Eugene Aromi, an education professor at the University of South Alabama and prolific azalea hybridizer, the hybrids listed below thrive in the Mid South and Lower South climates and feature stunning blooms in vibrant colors. Before his death in 2004 he produced more than 1,000 crosses and over 100,000 seedlings although only 1% of those were ever named. In 2015 the Mobile Botanical Gardens dedicated an area in their azalea collection to Aromi's hybrids.

Belgian Indica hybrids

These hybrids were originally developed for greenhouse forcing. Where winter lows don't dip below 20°F, many of them serve well as landscape plants. They are profuse bloomers with lush, thick foliage and typically semi-double or double blooms that are 2- to 3-inches big. If you're planning for hanging baskets, there are three Belgian Indica choices with pendant growth—'Red Poppy', 'Violetta', and 'William Van Orange'.

Beltsville hybrids

In 1939, Guy Yerkes and Robert Pryor, working together at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Research Station in Beltsville, Maryland, started an azalea breeding program to create plants suitable for greenhouse forcing but also hardy enough to grow outdoors (zone 7). When Yerkes retired, Pryor continued azalea breeding at the USDA Plant Introduction Station in Glenn Dale, Maryland.

Bloom-A-Thon hybrids

If you want your garden decked out in flowers most of the year, a Bloom-a-Thon azalea is the perfect pick. Bred in Seneca, South Carolina, by Bob Head, Bloom-a-Thon hybrids bloom multiple times a year: spring, summer and fall. Their maker promises they will bloom for 6 weeks in spring and another 12 to 16 weeks in summer and fall!

Carla hybrids

In the 1960s, Dr. Richard J. Stadtherr and Dr. Fred Cochran, professors at North Carolina State University, initiated an azalea breeding program called Carla. Dr. Stadtherr left to work at Louisiana State University but continued the program so trials were conducted in both states. They introduced 14 double-flowering plants that are highly floriferous (many blooms at once), superior greenhouse forcing types yet hardy to Zone 7 and 8. Of these, the last to be introduced, 'Fred Cochran', is highly resistant to phytophthora, a root rot that can affect azaleas.

Encore hybrids

Bred by Buddy Lee of Franklinton, Louisiana, and introduced by Flowerwood Nursery in Mobile, Alabama, these azaleas bloom most heavily in fall and then again in spring. Unlike other azaleas, they can take full sun. This relatively new group of azaleas was developed in the 1980s by crossing traditional spring-blooming plants with a rare Taiwanese summer-blooming azalea, Rhododendron oldhamii. The offspring boast blooms in springtime and then an encore in late summer and fall. Although Encore azaleas don't offer a profusion of flowers like the common spring bloomers, they make up for it with a much longer blooming period.

"What's amazing is the duration of the total flowering period," says Jim Berry, general manager of Plant Development Services, Inc. (PDSI), in Loxley, Alabama. "We've had reports of nine months of flowering in the Coastal South," he says. PDSI owns the patent to propagate Encore azaleas, and they've been working overtime to keep up with the demand.

The 'Autumn Bonfire' azalea, one of the newest hybrids in this group, is one of our faves. It blooms in spring, summer, and fall in a scarlet red shade so pretty you'll never have to give up curb appeal again. The Encore 'Autumn Bonfire' is a low-maintenance, fast-growing dwarf shrub that holds deep green foliage all year long and vibrant true red blooms for almost that long. It offers all of the color and pizzazz of a flowering shrub at a manageable size and upkeep. Music to the ears of all gardeners who don't have the detail gene and those who do, too. A flowering shrub of the people!

Gable hybrids

Bred in Pennsylvania to produce cold-hardy azaleas of Kurume type, Gable hybrids may lose some leaves during winter in the Upper South. They bloom heavily in midseason.

Girard hybrids

The Girard hybrids are handsome-foliaged plants bred for extra cold hardiness. They originated from Gable crosses and many of the Girard azaleas have vibrant fall foliage. 'Girard's Crimson', with its bright crimson-red blooms, sports maroon fall foliage, and orange-blossomed 'Girard's Hot Shot' flaunts beautiful orange-red fall and winter foliage.

Glenn Dale hybrids

Bred by Benjamin Y. Morrison at the National Arboretum, these azaleas were developed primarily for hardiness, though they do drop some leaves in cold winters. These hybrids have a range of characteristics. Some are tall and rangy, others low and compact, growth rate varies from slow to rapid, and some have small leaves like Kurume hybrids while others have large leaves.

Harris hybrids

Bred in Lawrenceville, Georgia, by James Harris beginning in 1970, the Harris hybrids are a family of heat-tolerant, big-bloomed azaleas. Their ability to stand up our humid summers has made them popular in the South. The 'Pink Cascade'—one of his earliest hybrids—is much loved for its beautiful cascading form. More recently, his work on repeat bloom has been marketed in the Bloom N' Again series, marked by bright colors.

Kaempferi hybrids

From R. kaempferi, the torch azalea, a cold-hardy plant with orange-red flowers, these hybrids are hardier than Kurume hybrids (to –15°F), with a taller, more open habit. They will lose nearly all their leaves below 0°F.

Kurume hybrids

Compact, twiggy plants densely clothed in small, glossy leaves, Kurume hybrids also produce profuse amounts of small flowers. Plants have a mounded or tiered form and look handsome even out of bloom. Widely used in foundation plantings—to the point of cliché. Of the many available selections, the ones below are among the most widely sold.

North Tisbury hybrids

Most of these hybrids reflect the characteristics of a common prostrate-growing ancestor, R. nakaharai, which has low-growing branches that hug the ground rather than extending upward.  Their dwarf, spreading habit and very late bloom (into midsummer) make them naturals for hanging baskets and ground covers.

Pericat hybrids

These hybrids were originally developed for greenhouse forcing but are about as hardy as Kurume hybrids and look much the same—though flowers tend to be somewhat larger.

ReBloom hybrids

A second line of repeat-blooming azaleas from Bob Head, these have a good color range from pastels into more vivid hues, blooming again in summer as well as fall.

Robin Hill hybrids

This large group of hybrids with typically large flowers was bred in the 1950s and 60s by Robert Gartrell of Wycoff, New Jersey—ironic due to their popularity among gardeners in the Lower and Coastal South. Most are 3-4 ft. tall and wide; some are shorter or taller. Known to bloom for two to three months—in fall as well as spring. There are so many good ones (several with "Robin Hill" in their names) that it's difficult to single out only a few. The newest is 'Freddy', a popular white sport of 'Watchet' that was found and introduced by Margie Jenkins of Amite, Louisiana.

Satsuki hybrids

This group includes azaleas sometimes referred to as Gumpo and Macrantha hybrids. Hardy to 5°F, these low-growing plants can make nice ground covers. They bloom late, bearing large flowers in tight-growing mounds of late-spring color. However, due to their compact form, they can be plagued by rhizoctonia, a blight that is usually fatal.

Southern Indica hybrids

Selected from Belgian Indica hybrids for vigor and sun tolerance, most of these Southern Indica hybrids take temperatures of 10–20°F, but some are damaged even at the upper end of that range. They generally grow faster, more vigorously, and taller than other kinds of evergreen azaleas. They range from 4 to 12 ft. tall and almost as wide, depending on the selection, age, and culture. Flowers are large, usually 2–3 in. across. Used for massing and as specimens—as shrubs, standards, espaliers.