Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Group/Class:  Rutherford Hybrid

Description:

A stunning evergreen shrub featuring showy clusters of ruffled, orange-salmon flowers speckled with red, over dark green, glossy foliage; may bloom in fall to winter in frost free areas; must have well-drained, highly acidic and organic soil

Ornamental Features

Dorothy Gish Azalea is smothered in stunning clusters of lightly-scented salmon trumpet-shaped flowers with orange overtones and red spots at the ends of the branches from mid to late spring. It has dark green evergreen foliage which emerges light green in spring. The glossy oval leaves remain dark green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Dorothy Gish Azalea is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a mounded form. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Dorothy Gish Azalea is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Dorothy Gish Azalea will grow to be about 5 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth, but will die in standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have rich, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.