Elisabeth is stalwart to -20 degrees Fahrenheit . bear sizable red flowers . Shrubby , evergreen “ ironclad ” rhododendron with medium leaves . There are between 500 and 900 species of evergreen plant and deciduous plant in the Rhododendron genus . Azaleas devolve into this category . The evergreen rhododendron is characterized by culture medium to long , egg-shaped leaves and large , clustered , trusses of , late , showy , spring to early summertime prime , range in colors from red , pink , white , lavenders , purples and even yellow and orangish . Form maybe downhearted and mound to gangly and almost Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - like with age . All rhododendrons get laid well - enfeeble , acid soil and should be plant high , rather on raised beds . Partial shade is preferable too , though many plants develop quite well in full sun in cooler , more forgiving climates . In ecumenical , the evergreen rhododendron run to do well in cool areas of zone 7 and lower , thriving in the Appalachian Mountains and the Pacific Northwest .
Google Plant Images : click here !
Characteristics
Requirements
Plant Care
Fertilizing
Light
Pinching is removing the stem tips of a young works to promote branch . Doing this keep off the motivation for more life-threatening pruning later on on .
Thinning involve removing whole arm back to the trunk . This may be done to give up the interior of a plant to let more twinkle in and to increase air circulation that can trim down down on plant disease . The good way to begin thinning is to begin by removing idle or diseased wood .
Shearing is leveling the surface of a shrub using hand or electric shears . This is done to maintain the desired shape of a hedge or topiary .
Rejuvenating is remotion of old branch or the overall simplification of the size of it of a shrub to restore its original chassis and size . It is urge that you do not remove more than one third of a plant at a fourth dimension . Remember to take away branches from the interior of the plant as well as the outside . When rejuvenating plant with cane , such as nandina , thin back cane at various heights so that works will have a more instinctive look .
Watering
The keystone to watering is water deep and less frequently . When watering , weewee well , i.e. provide enough water to exhaustively impregnate the root ball . With in - basis plants , this intend exhaustively dowse the stain until water has penetrated to a astuteness of 6 to 7 inches ( 1 ' being better ) . With container grown plants , apply enough water to allow water to flow through the drain jam .
adjudicate to water flora early in the day or subsequently in the afternoon to conserve H2O and cut down on plant accent . Do H2O early enough so that water has had a probability to dry out from plant life leaves prior to Nox fall . This is paramount if you have had fungus problems .
Do n’t look to water until plants wilt . Although some plant life will find from this , all plant will die if they droop too much ( when they reach the lasting wilting point ) .
Consider weewee conservation method such as drip irrigation , mulching , and xeriscaping . drip mould systems which slowly drip moisture directly on the ascendent system can be purchase at your local home and garden center . mulch can significantly cool the ancestor zone and conserve wet .
view adding water - save gels to the root word zone which will carry a reservation of piddle for the plant . These can make a world of difference especially under nerve-wracking conditions . Be certain to watch label centering for their use of goods and services .
status : Normal Watering for Outdoor PlantsNormal wateringmeans that dirt should be keep equally moist and watered on a regular basis , as weather involve . Most plants like 1 inch of water a hebdomad during the growing season , but take care not to over piddle . The first two years after a industrial plant is installed , regular tearing is of import for formation . The first class is vital . It is better to piddle once a calendar week and water deeply , than to water frequently for a few min .
Planting
Pruning deciduous shrubs can be divide into 4 groups : Those that requireminimal pruning(take out only dead , diseased , damaged , or traverse branches , can be done in former spring.);spring pruning(encourages vigorous , Modern ontogenesis which produces summer flowers - in other words , flowers appear on fresh wood);summer pruning after flower(after inflorescence , cut back shoots , and take out some of the one-time growth , down to the ground);suckering habit pruning(flowers come along on wood from previous year . Cut back flower stems by 1/2 , to strong growing novel shoots and remove 1/2 of the blossom stems a match of inch from the ground ) Always off dead , damaged or pathologic wood first , no matter what eccentric of pruning you are doing .
good example : Minimal : Amelanchier , Aronia , Chimonanthus , Clethra , Cornus alternifolia , Daphne , Fothergilla , Hamamelis , Poncirus , Viburnum . leap : Abelia , Buddleia , Datura , Fuchsia , Hibiscus , Hypericum , Perovskia , Spirea douglasii / japonica , Tamarix . Summer after flower : Buddleia alternifolia , Calycanthus , Chaenomeles , Corylus , Cotoneaster , Deutzia , Forsythia , Magnolia x soulangeana / stellata , Philadelphus , Rhododendron sp . , Ribes , Spirea x arguta / prunifolia / thunbergii , Syringa , Weigela . Suckering : KerriaHow - to : Planting ShrubsDig a hole twice the size of the root musket ball and deep enough to engraft at the same story the bush was in the container . If soil is poor , dig hole even wider and fill with a mixture half original soil and half compost or soil amendment .
Carefully remove bush from container and gently separate root . Position in center of hole , best side facing forward . Fill in with original soil or an remedy mixture if take as described above . For large shrub , build a water well . Finish by mulch and watering well .
If the works is ball - and - burlapped , hit fasteners and turn up back the top of lifelike gunny , tucking it down into hollow , after you ’ve positioned shrub . verify that all burlap is buried so that it wo n’t wick piddle away from rootball during red-hot , dry full point . If synthetic gunny , remove if potential . If not potential , cut aside or make incision to allow for roots to educate into the new stain . For larger bush , make a water well . Finish by mulching and watering well .
If shrub is bare - root , wait for a discoloration somewhere near the base ; this Deutschmark is likely where the soil stock was . If soil is too sandlike or too clayey , add organic affair . This will facilitate with both drain and water holding capacitance . Fill grunge , tauten just enough to back bush . Finish by mulching and irrigate well .
Problems
Possible controls : keep sess down ; use sort in windows to keep them out ; polish off infested plant away from non - infested plant ; use a reflective mulch ( Al foil ) under plants ( this repels whitefly ) ; trap with icteric sticky card , apply labeled pesticide ; promote natural foe such as bloodsucking wasps in the garden ; and sometimes a just steady shower of water will wash them off the industrial plant . Pest : AphidsAphids are little , soft - bodied , slow - impress worm that suck fluids from plants . Aphidscome in many colour , ranging from gullible to brown to grim , and they may have wings . They attack a panoptic reach of plant species stimulate stunting , flex leave and buds . They can transmit harmful plant virus with their pierce / sucking mouthparts . Aphids , loosely , are merely a nuisance , since it learn many of them to make serious industrial plant damage . However aphids do produce a sweet substance yell honeydew ( coveted by ants ) which can lead to an unattractive black surface ontogeny call jet mould .
Aphids can increase chop-chop in numbers and each female person can produce up to 250 live nymphs in the class of a calendar month without mating . Aphids often appear when the environs changes - spring & drop . They ’re often massed at the tips of branches feeding on lush tissue . Aphids are pull in to the color yellow and will often hitchhike on yellow clothing .
Prevention and Control : Keep weeds to an absolute minimum , especially around desirable plants . On comestible , wash off infected region of plant . ma’am bugs and lacewings will bung on aphids in the garden . There are various products - constituent and inorganic - that can be used to insure aphids . Seek the recommendation of a professional and follow all label procedures to a golf tee . Fungi : RustsMostrustsare horde specific and overwinter on leaf , stems and spent flower debris . Rust often appears as small , bright orangish , yellow , or brown pustules on the underside of leave . If touched , it will leave a coloured maculation of spore on the digit . because of fungi and spread by splash water or rain , rust is forged when weather is damp .
Prevention and Control : Plant resistive varieties and provide maximal air travel circulation . Clean up all rubble , especially around plants that have had a trouble . Do not water from command processing overhead and water only during the day so that plant life will have enough time to dry out before night . Apply a antimycotic agent judge for rust on your plant . Fungi : Powdery MildewPowdery Mildewis usually chance on plant that do not have enough air circulation or equal light . Problems are worse where nights are cool and days are tender and humid . The powdery white or gray fungus is normally found on the upper surface of leaves or fruit . Leaves will often turn yellow or brown , curl up , and send packing off . New leafage come out crinkled and twisted . Fruit will be dwarfed and often drops ahead of time .
Prevention and Control : Plant resistant variety and infinite industrial plant properly so they pick up adequate light and air travel circulation . Always weewee from below , keep water system off the foliage . This is paramount for roses . Go easy on the nitrogen fertilizer . give fungicides according to label directions before trouble becomes terrible and follow directions exactly , not miss any required treatment . Sanitation is a must - cleanse up and remove all leafage , flowers , or junk in the fall and put down . Pest : CaterpillarsCaterpillars are the unripe form of moth and butterflies . They are voracious feeders attacking a wide assortment of plant . They can be extremely destructive and are characterized as folio feeders , stem borers , leaf hair curler , cutworm and tent - former .
Prevention and Control : keep weeds down , scout single plants and take out caterpillars , apply labeled insecticides such as soaps and oils , take advantage of natural foeman such as epenthetic wasps in the garden and employ Bacillus thuringiensis ( biological warfare ) for some caterpillar species . Diseases : Pythium and Phytophtora Root RotRot Rot , PythiumorPhytophthoraoccurs when soil moisture stratum are to a fault high and fungal spore present in the soil , come in contact with the susceptible works . The base of stems discolor and shrink , and leaves further up the stalk wilt disease and die . Leaves near base are move first . The roots will turn black and waste or break . This fungi can be introduced by using unsterilised ground mix or contaminated water .
Prevention and ControlRemove affected plant life and their roots , and discard surrounding soil . supplant with plants that are not susceptible , and only expend fresh , sterilize soil mix . Hold back on fertilise too . Try not to over piss plants and make trusted that soil is well drained prior to planting . This fungus is not treatable by chemical .
Rhizoctonia Root and Stem Rot symptoms count standardised to Pythium Root Rot , but the Rhizoctonia fungus seems to thrive in well drained dirt . Pest : Scale InsectsScales are insects , related to mealy bugs , that can be a problem on a full variety of plants - indoor and outside . untested scales creeping until they discover a full feeding site . The adult female then recede their legs and persist on a spot protected by its hard plate bed . They appear as bumps , often on the modest side of leaf . They have pierce oral fissure portion that suck the sap out of plant tissue paper . Scales can weaken a plant leading to yellow foliation and leaf drop cloth . They also produce a sweet centre call honeydew ( coveted by ants ) which can lead to an unattractive black surface fungous growth called pitchy mold .
Prevention and Control : Once established they are hard to see to it . Isolate infested plant forth from those that are not infested . Consult your local garden sum professional or Cooperative Extension office in your county for a legal good word regarding their control . Encourage instinctive enemies such as leechlike WASP in the garden . disease : BlightBlights are make by fungi or bacteria that down industrial plant tissue paper . symptom often show up as the rapid spotting or droop of foliation . There are many unlike blight , specific to various plant life , each requiring a wide-ranging method of control . Pest : LacebugsLacebugsare blanched to pale brown , 1/8 in long , rectangular in frame with have lacy wings and usually found on the bottom of leaves where they suck sap . Nymphs may appear spiny and dark than adults . Lacebugs , which do not wing , are sometimes confused with whiteflies that do fly . Damage ordinarily come out as stipples or " " bleached - looking " " patch on the leaves . heavily , black excretion can usually be found on the undersurface of leaves . Damage is most visible during the summertime , especially on Tree . Flowering bush , though live , appear unaccented and almost exanimate .
Prevention and Control : If plague is mild , wash forth with a blue jet of soapy water or prune by overrun leave or limbs . Timing is authoritative : spray according to the Growing Degree Days ( GDD ) in your area . To command insects , spray underside of leaf with a advocate insecticide according to label directions . shape : ChlorosisEntire leaf or area around veins in leaves come out yellow . This is the outcome of minify iron intake from the grunge due to high pH or waterlogged ground . It is of import to have it away the pH requirements of plants . Prior to planting , amend soil to improve drain and adjust pH , if necessary . Chlorosis is plebeian in industrial plant growing close to concrete or establish in alkaline soils . Treat with an branding iron supplement harmonise to recording label directions .
Miscellaneous
The most authoritative affair to deal is getting sufficient water take up into the cut theme . deficient piss can result in wilting and suddenly - lived flowers . out to neck of roses , where the flower head sag , is the solution of miserable water uptake . To maximize water uptake , first re - cut the stems at an angle so that the vascular system ( the " " plumbery " " of the stem ) is clear . Next immerse the cut stems in warm piddle .
Remember when the flower is cut , it is snub off from its food provision . Once water is taken attention of , food is the resource that will run out next . The plants stems naturally feed the efflorescence with sugar . If you tote up a bit of sugar ( 1 tsp . ) to the vase water supply , this will help fertilise the flower stem and offer their vase life .
Bacteria will work up up in vase pee and eventually clog up the stem so the bloom can not take up water supply . To preclude this , change the vase water frequently and make a newfangled cut in the stems every few days .
flowered preservative , available from flower store , contain kale , Lucy in the sky with diamonds and bactericide that can extend cut flower life . These come in small parcel and are mostly available where cut peak are sold . If used right , these can extend the vase living of some cut flowers 2 to 3 time when compared with just plain water in the vase . Glossary : TolerantTolerant refer to a plant ’s ability to tolerate exposure to an external condition(s ) . It does not intend that the plant thrive or prefers this situation , but is capable to adapt and continue its life rhythm . Glossary : Growth BudsPlant stanch contain legion buds that will grow and reincarnate a plant when stir by pruning . There are three canonical types of buds : terminal , lateral and torpid . Terminal buds are at the tips of twigs or branch . They grow to make the limb or sprig longer . In some cases they may give wage increase to a prime . If you cut the tip of a branch and dispatch the concluding bud , this will encourage the sidelong bud to acquire into side arm result in a thick , shaggy flora . Lateral buds are lower down on the sprig and are often at the point of leafage adhesion . Pruning them encourages the concluding bud , result in a prospicient , thin branch . Dormant bud may remain inactive in the bark or prow and will only grow after the plant is cut back . Glossary : PruningNow is the preferred time to rationalise this industrial plant .
