azalea, rhododendron

Azaleas and rhododendrons are popular woody plants for the garden. They flourish especially well in acid soil that is rich in humus. In practice gardeners differentiate between evergreen rhododendrons, which keep their leaves all year round, summer-green azaleas, which are deciduous, and semi-evergreen azaleas – these lose only part of their leaves in autumn.

Rhododendrons have been grown and cultivated for centuries in China and Japan. Their triumphant progress as a much-loved potted and garden plant began around 1800, when the first plants reached the markets on the European continent. The original form of today's indoor azalea Rhododendron simsii was introduced around 1810. The great versatility of the species and varieties particularly enthused English, German and Belgian plant-growers. Apart from the 850 species there are meanwhile over 15,000 registered Rhododendron breeds.