These azaleas are still doing very well and have been constantly flowering. Added another dwarf which some nocturnal marauder (armadillo looking for grubs?) repeatedly pushes up and out, so I replant it and it keeps flowering).

HOWEVER - QUESTION: Last week I bought a beautiful red one at Lowes where they had many in a new shipment, for just $5.95. When I went to plant it, the ROOTS seemed in an awful state. Roots were a dried out tight mass, had been grown in mostly wood chips from surface to bottom. I cut into it severely, removed much of the bottom half, to where some soil was visible, and put it in water overnight. Will plant it today. DID I TREAT IT RIGHT? I need your advice, as I do love these little azaleas because 1) they bloom at a hint of cool weather - long before large azaleas do - and continue until hot nights, and 2) they don't need a deep planting hole (my shade areas are full of oak roots and concrete infill rubble).

Did you add some epsom salts when you planted it? If not, sprinkle about a half-cup from 3-inches out from the trunk out to the drip line and water it in well. The Magnesium helps it form feeder roots to replace the ones you cut off. Remember to keep it watered, because it's getting warmer and they have shallow roots.

Dirtygardener, thank you... I did mix organic azalea fertilizer into the base of the hole. Gardengal, great advice. I panicked because it didn't look like the previous dwarfs when I unpotted it. Maybe I'll buy a second and treat it right this time.

Gardengal, that's what I was taught in my plant nutrients course in college when I was getting my Horticulture degree, so I'm sticking with it, and I resent the insult about not knowing anything about nutrients. I find it odd that since you don't live in FL and have no experience with the particular plant growing conditions we have, that you feel like such an expert in gardening here?

dirtygardener, understanding plant nutrients has nothing to do with location. The same plant require and utilize the same nutrients regardless of location.

I too have a degree in horticulture and actually earn my living at it, both as a consultant and an educator. And I never claimed to be an expert at anything. But I do know my soils and how plants access and use soil nutrients and how they promote growth and what kind. If Mg is deficient it can affect various plant functions, primarily photosynthesis, and that can limit root growth. But that is rather different than using Epsom salts to stimulate feeder root development on transplantng......as a horticulturist, surely you can see that. Please show me some sort of science based publication that confirms that magnesium has any positive effect on feeder root development and I will be quite prepared to change my mind :-) FWIW, I can show studies where it has been determined that excess Mg actually blocks the development of root hairs.........

I'm not going to have a "who is smarter and more experienced" shootout with you. I concede that EXCESS Mg can be detrimental to root growth, but it does stimulate plant growth when a plant is first put into the ground and in sprouts. I'm not recommending putting Epsom Salts on every week or even every month, just when you first put the plant in the ground.

I don't really go by scientific research, I go by results, and every long-time southern gardener I know swears by this, and you are NOT a southern gardener, you are in the PNW, which is WORLDS different than gardening in the South, and especially in Florida. Florida sand has absolutely no micronutrients, so we have to add them. Three plants that have common micronutrient deficiency problems in our soils are palms (frizzle top caused by Manganese deficiency), Gardenias (magnesium deficiency) and tomatoes (calcium deficiency).

Even the experts agree that they don't fully understand the role of some micronutrients in plants, and magnesium is one of the most mysterious, because it works differently in different soils, different climates and even different plants. Here in the South, it works well to get newly planted plants established. Hundreds of years of anecdotal evidence should not be ignored in favor of what is found in a sterile laboratory environment.

You may be trying to help, but every growing area is different, so please don't assume our gardening is the same as yours, or that the standard rules apply everywhere, and for God's sake, don't be so insulting!

Irma, I'm sorry to hijack your thread with this argument. I stand by what I said, and you can do as you wish. It's your plant. *hugs*

Thanks both of you - Interesting arguments. Tomorrow I'll go sprinkle some of the [high-in-magnesium ... editing this out.. think I was wrong about this... obviously, I don't understand any of this micro-nutrient business] organic azalea food on the top, since I'm out of epson salts.

I wonder how these compare to the "encore" azaleas I've been seeing in Walmart. The label claims they bloom throughout the year too. The white one is eye-catching I think.