I had been led to believe that azaleas do not do well in Austin. Yesterday
I was at the Zilker Botanical Garden, and they are abloom EVERYWHERE!
Absolutely stunning! Are there special steps that must be taken to ensure
their success - or am I wrong about azaleas and Austin? Thanks for any
advice you can offer. Sarah (who is suffering greatly from azalea envy!)

L & S wrote:
I had been led to believe that azaleas do not do well in Austin. Yesterday

You need to do some pampering and you're much more likely to be successful
if you keep them in a pot.

I was at the Zilker Botanical Garden, and they are abloom EVERYWHERE!
Absolutely stunning! Are there special steps that must be taken to ensure
their success - or am I wrong about azaleas and Austin? Thanks for any
advice you can offer. Sarah (who is suffering greatly from azalea envy!)

You need to acidify the soil, which is how they like it. It's a futile battle
in the long run.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

I have not looked at a soil survey lately, but if I'm not mistaken, Zilker Park
is part of an escarpment which has a strip of acidic soil running through. Most
places, with the exception of Tyler or east Texas are suitable for azaleas. The
soil is not deep enough, nor is the pH low enough. You would have to virtually
remove two feet of soil and replace it with soil specific for growing azaleas.
There are so many other wonderful plants to choose from which are not fussy and
which are just as nice.

I believe adaptation to a somewhat craggy landscape we have in the Hill Country
is (or should be) a requirement to having a successful landscape.

Azaleas are not suitable in central Texas.

On Thu, 27 Mar 2003 23:10:06 GMT, "L & S"
wrote:

I had been led to believe that azaleas do not do well in Austin. Yesterday
I was at the Zilker Botanical Garden, and they are abloom EVERYWHERE!
Absolutely stunning! Are there special steps that must be taken to ensure
their success - or am I wrong about azaleas and Austin? Thanks for any
advice you can offer. Sarah (who is suffering greatly from azalea envy!)

On Thu, 27 Mar 2003 23:10:06 GMT, "L & S"
wrote:

I had been led to believe that azaleas do not do well in Austin. Yesterday
I was at the Zilker Botanical Garden, and they are abloom EVERYWHERE!
Absolutely stunning! Are there special steps that must be taken to ensure
their success - or am I wrong about azaleas and Austin? Thanks for any
advice you can offer. Sarah (who is suffering greatly from azalea envy!)


You were led correctly. However, with a decent budget for removing
Austin's native soil and replacing it with E. Texas or some other
humis-filled, low pH, mixture, a full time staff to prune, water year
'round, and keep the soil from reverting to local type, you too can
have beautiful azealeas in Austin.

Years back, there were absolutely glorious azealas along many of the
older streets in Austin, Enfield Road west of Lamar being a prime
example. 95% of them are gone. The older trees that gave them
shelter from the direct sun were not kept up, not replaced, or chopped
to pieces by the city in the name of progress. Many of the homes were
too large to be kept up and turned into spot-zoned cracker-box
apartments. Azealas need water through the winter. Often more than
we get by rainfall, so they have to be watered. As our water and
wastewater rates have zoomed, it became a burden to be watering year
'round, particularly when it influenced your wastewater rates for the
year.

Take a drive to E. Texas to see them in something closer to a natural
state.

B.Server wrote in message
...
| On Thu, 27 Mar 2003 23:10:06 GMT, "L & S"
| wrote:
|
| I had been led to believe that azaleas do not do well in Austin.
Yesterday
| I was at the Zilker Botanical Garden, and they are abloom
EVERYWHERE!
| Absolutely stunning! Are there special steps that must be taken to
ensure
| their success - or am I wrong about azaleas and Austin? Thanks
for any
| advice you can offer. Sarah (who is suffering greatly from azalea
envy!)
|
|
| You were led correctly. However, with a decent budget for removing
| Austin's native soil and replacing it with E. Texas or some other
| humis-filled, low pH, mixture, a full time staff to prune, water
year
| 'round, and keep the soil from reverting to local type, you too can
| have beautiful azealeas in Austin.
|
| Years back, there were absolutely glorious azealas along many of the
| older streets in Austin, Enfield Road west of Lamar being a prime
| example. 95% of them are gone. The older trees that gave them
| shelter from the direct sun were not kept up, not replaced, or
chopped
| to pieces by the city in the name of progress. Many of the homes
were
| too large to be kept up and turned into spot-zoned cracker-box
| apartments. Azealas need water through the winter. Often more than
| we get by rainfall, so they have to be watered. As our water and
| wastewater rates have zoomed, it became a burden to be watering year
| 'round, particularly when it influenced your wastewater rates for
the
| year.
|
| Take a drive to E. Texas to see them in something closer to a
natural
| state.

There are still a few places where they're to be seen in glory in West
Austin, but where they thrive, it's because there's time or paid staff
and lots of money invested. Last I knew, Sledd's was still stocking
varieties liked by the West Austin old ladies.

We put ours in large pots and they do great. We feed them azalea food and
leftover coffee/coffee grounds.


Greg