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BY RICHARD ANTONY [ ' Rappahannock News ■ Contributing Writer . Azaleas are perhaps the frost popular woody ornamental shrub in the eastern U.S. garden today, largely due to their desirable plant form, profuse blooming habit, ease <»f growing, and long-lived nature. Thousands of varieties ean be successfully grown in the mid-Atlantic region.
Azaleas belong to the feenus rhododendron. Two classes of azaleas are normally distinguished: evergreen and deciduous. The former retains frost of its leaves during the winter, while the latter drops frl its leaves in the fall, with new leaves emerging in the spring. ; Azalea blooms cover a remarkable color range, with evergreen and deciduous Exhibiting some distinct differences. Evergreen bloom colors range from pure white through light pastels to deep reds, purples and pinks. A pumber of varieties have multi-color blooms, exhibiting stripes, flecks, sectors, marginal coloration consisting of two or more colors.
Deciduous azaleas, on the other hand, offer a spectrum of yellows and oranges, with almost no varieties exhibiting lavender and purple blooms. Bloom times vary by variety from early March through June. Some varieties bloom in both the spring and the fall. Deciduous tend to be sun-loving, upright growers, while evergreens run the gambit in size from tiny dwarfs to tallgrowing varieties and nearly everything in between.
Evergreen azaleas are native to the Orient and found their way to this country by a number of different routes. Many of the early introduc
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