I am no expert but that seems short. The Azaleas at my childhood home's garden(lower NY) were there when my folks bought the house 35 years ago and are still going strong despite 5 kids, a series of dogs and periods of neglect.

of course you will see in an earlier post my own didn not survive one winter :(

There is no such thing as the life span for all azaleas. There are so many variables that it would vary from a couple weeks in areas where the plants were really struggling to perhaps 1,000s of years in their native habitats. So maybe evergreen azaleas in coastal Texas would typically get straggly looking in 20 years, that is by no means typical for the rest of the world. Some varieties will thrive and live forever. Some will struggle and always look like they are going to die or actually die. My rhododendron and azaleas are mostly over 40 years old and look like they will last forever.

I may just be gullible or uninformed, but I know of some Azaleas in my area that have been around since the revolutionary and civil war periods.

Sorry, didn't mean to post that in this thread, thought I was making a new one.

There are Indica azaleas in my garden that have been here for more than fifty years, planted by my late MIL. They are in an ideal climate, which may explain the longevity.
Nell

Azaleas at my grandparent's house in Charleston are at least 150 years old.

OOur

We have 2 Azeleas in our yard. Both were planted by the original property owner's sister. The Pinkster was planted back in 1986 & it is somewhat struggling since hurricane Helene hit Spruce Pine North Carolina but it is making a comeback. The main Azelea is over 12' tall & 44' circumstance. It has been trimmed g kept in a gumdrop shape since it was planted back in the 1950's by her older sister (Jewel). She is now 86yo & told me of a time she went to South Carolina or Georgia & saw an Azelea that would now be well over 100 years old & over 15' high & 100' long due to their natural propagation method similar to air layering but allows the branches to grow into contact with the ground & begins rooting again allowing it to spread. The deer have had little to eat since the Hurricane & I've had to trim much of the base about 3-4' high & found numerous new growths from the exact method Mrs. Jewel described & it is thriving ❤️!! The 2 pictures above are our pictures we have from April 2024 & today.. My family will be getting Azeleas from it as gifts..