Some kinds are more sparse looking in winter than others. Many evergreen azaleas barely qualify for the designation, with only a tuft of leaves right at the branch tip being retained until spring.

Yes they will regrow and fill out, remember to use an acid fertilizer on them Spring and Fall. I highly recommend "HollyTone". Keep them fairly moist the first year, they do not like to dry out.

id be very careful with fert in fall ... i would tend to late august.. you want them going to sleep in october.. not in lush vegetative growth ...

that said.. hollytone is about as inert a fert.. as you can use ... hey.. that rhymed ...

this is one reason.. in my MI .. and yours.. that i stayed away from evergreen As and Rs ...

imo.. its desiccating winter winds that are the culprit ... freeze drying the leaves ... and lifes to short.. to be burlapping plants.. especially on acreage ...

your winds prevail in winter.. from the NW ... so if you site them to the SE of some natural wind block ... you should do better ..

its hard to opine on the stock you rec'd without a pic ...

ken

Seasonal growth is regulated by things like day length and night temperature. Only plants such as Lagerstroemia that aren't northern adapted keep growing too late into autumn, something they do whether they have been fertilized at that time of the year or not. And even with these types autumn fertilization can greatly assist recovery in spring.

Um...it's spring -- why are we talking about fall fertilization?

Anyway, easy enough to pick up a small bag of Holly-Tone to amend the area (I only have three of the azaleas, Nancy of Robin Hill, which is a dwarf). I should be able to find a suitable planting location easily - I'm pretty much working with a blank slate in the beds surrounding the house.

Thanks for the replies -- good to know they'll fill in!

They were talking about fertilising in Fall because gardenshine recommended it.