Christmas Cheer Azalea
Rhododendron 'Christmas Cheer'
Height: 6 feet
Spread: 6 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 5
Group/Class: Kurume Hybrids
Description:
This dense, upright, evergreen shrub has small, olive-green leaves and pretty clusters of bright red flowers in early spring; absolutely must have well-drained, highly acidic and organic soil, use plenty of peat moss when planting
Ornamental Features
Christmas Cheer Azalea is blanketed in stunning clusters of red trumpet-shaped flowers with dark red throats at the ends of the branches from early to mid spring before the leaves. It has olive green deciduous foliage. The small oval leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color.
Landscape Attributes
Christmas Cheer Azalea is an open multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.
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.
Christmas Cheer Azalea is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Accent
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
Planting & Growing
Christmas Cheer Azalea will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 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.
