Hi Patty - thanks for the info. After some scary weeks when I thought it was done, it's stopped shedding the lower leaves & now starting to fill out the buds up top - so seems it is just a "deciduous" azalea - I never knew there was such a thing, hence my concerns, We're in the middle of another "Beast from the East" winter spell so I'll probably hold off another week or two before starting feeding but suspect it will do well once more hopefully if the cold doesn't kill it (taken plenty of precautions to prevent that tho). Thanks again :)

It's an evergreen azalea, deciduous azaleas drop all of their leaves. And produce different, thinner textured ones.

Hmm interesting - this is the 3rd year it's done this - just the worst drop it's had before "recovering" - yet we don't get dire winters here & as I say the winter such as it is, is only now hitting. Hard to see why else it behaves in this way? (Don't mean I don't accept what you're saying - just curious) I have 4 other azaleas which are more obviously evergreen & rarely drop one leaf let alone 2/3 :(

Some kinds of evergreen azaleas often shed to the point where there is a sort of rosette of leaves at the tip and maybe a few others hanging on below it.

Yep, that's it exactly - it never fails to worry me right up to the point its at above, & then suddenly everything starts building and growing again :). I just wondered how normal it was so thank you SO much for your answer :)