Characteristics
| Hardiness zone | 6b |
|---|---|
| Flower color | purple |
| Foliage type | evergreen |
| Plant form | mounded |
| Mature height | 4 feet |
| Spread | 4 feet |
| Light requirements | full sun to partial shade |
| Moisture requirements | moist |
| Plant origin | hybrid |
Encore® Autumn Royalty™ Azalea
Botanical name: Rhododendron ‘Conlec’
This captivating, compact evergreen shrub is bathed in clusters of beautiful violet purple blooms that will emerge all season; an excellent choice to mass in groupings as a focal point of the garden; must have rich acidic soil.
Ornamental Features
Encore® Autumn Royalty™ Azalea is bathed in stunning clusters of lightly-scented purple trumpet-shaped flowers with a hot pink flare at the ends of the branches from late spring to early fall. It has dark green foliage. The glossy narrow leaves remain dark green throughout the winter. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.
Landscape Attributes
Encore® Autumn Royalty™ Azalea is an open 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.
Encore® Autumn Royalty™ Azalea is recommended for the following landscape applications;
Accent, Mass Planting, General Garden Use
Planting and Growing
Encore® Autumn Royalty™ Azalea will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 4 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground. 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. 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 leaves 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.
