I overwintered some container azaleas by burying them in the ground
(still in their 3 gal nursery pots) and then mulching them up to a few
inches around their trunk. They are Glenn Dale Festive azaleas and are
supposed to be evergreen. Well, I noticed them dying out and shedding
leaves from the inside about a month ago, and was a little concerned,
but they stayed very green at their tips so I left them undisturbed.
Now, it's a beautiful day today, sunny and 70's, so I decided to dig
them out and clean them up even though they still seem to be dormant.
But, when I removed the mulch from their trunk base, I noticed that the
bark seems to be shedding back for that portion of the trunk that was
under the mulch. I scratched the fresh exposed surface to see if it was
heartwood or fresh bark and it appears that there is a very thin
membrane, very smooth, with a nice green cambium on the underside of
that, then a nice whitish heartwood under the green cambium layer.

Is there anything to be worried about here? It seems that a new bark is
forming and the old is shedding away, I just didn't know that azaleas
would do that. These are exceptionally nice azaleas that I have had in
training for two years now, trunk diameters are almost two inches, and
this is the year I want to downsize them to bonsai pots.

Any advise you can offer is appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike Peck
Kansas City, MO Zone 5

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