I live in Dallas and have had mixed results, many ofthe poor results I would venture to say are "operator errors". My best results and been had by location selection. By this I mean I plant them in well shaded areas under my oak trees. The acidity of the oak leaves seems to help.

I'm in NE TX and they naturally do well here, but have a friend down your way who is successful with them too. Just remember they like to have base of plant near the top of soil line but want cool "feet" so mulch heavily with pine straw if available.

Suzi

I recommend that you use raised beds and azalea/camellia soil (Lowe's, HD, etc). You could plant azaleas in your soil but they will not thrive well for two reasons.

Most Texas Soil is alkaline and azaleas like soil Ph below 7.0 (acid). Otherwise, you will struggle with iron chlorosis.

Clay soil is hard, specially when dry. It will be next to impossible for the plants to grow in clay soil. Azalea roots do not grow deep and will have a hard time tunneling thru the hard dry clay soil.

Water the equivalent of 1" a week. But around this time of the year, you will need to increase the amount while, sometime after August, you need to reduce it. Remember not to let them go dry during the winter months, specially in the first year. Buds start to form in the summer so it is important to water well during that time. They like moist soil, not wet feet.

The plants can but should not be grown in shade (unless it is what I call "bright" shade). They produce more blooms if they get some sun. So experiment... find a spot that gets morning sun until -oh, say 9-10am. Dappled shade is best. Too much sun and the leaves look bleached, burned. Be on the lookout for aphids and lacebugs in May.

Note that azaleas are not heavy feeders. Pine straw mulch is all the fertilizer they need. But I also give them some cottonseed meal in early spring and May. Sometimes in very early Fall. Definitely stop feeding around the middle/late part of Fall.

Coffee grounds can be used to supply nitrogen but they are not acid enough to keep the Ph acidic. If you see the leaves turning yellow but the veins are green, your Ph is too alkaline and the plant is suffering from an iron deficiency (chlorosis); add iron chelate products from local nurseries and use other products to acidify the soil.

I use a product from Green Light that acidifies the soil but has a NPK Ratio of 0-0-0. That means it has no nitrogen; because of that, I can safely use it during the winter months if the plants show iron chlorosis then. After all, nitrogen makes the plants try to grow and I do not want to kill new growth when the weather turns cold.

See below for a list of azaleas that do well in Bexar County. Oh, you can also go to Azalea Society's website for more info too: www.azaleas.org

Good luck! Luis

Here is a link that might be useful: Recommended Azaleas, Camellias, Gardenias