Way back when I lived in Tampa we decided to do a lot of Azaleas in our beds in the front since we had quite a bit of shade. Well our timing was horrible - that was the year that we started with a continued drought situation for quite a long time, a few years in fact. Needless to say I lost all of them and there were probably at least 20 or so. I kept watering and kept watering, mulched, did everything I could. There was no such thing as those additives that conserve water back then. So I decided not to ever try it again but did a few when we moved here, same thing. And I just love them. Not in my wheelhouse, Azaleas.

My dwarf azaleas (the kind sold in grocery stores for Valentines Day) do wonderfully, blooming off and on all year except July - October, and even then, a rainy, overcast week will bring some blooms. They are planted against a porch column that shades their roots and the shorter bushes all day. And I water them frequently year round as I do the annuals garden next to them in the sun.

The regular azaleas, planted in shade, are still small, rarely bloom and each summer I swear I will pull them out rather than keep wasting water on them just to keep them alive. Granted, I only water them when there has been no rain for a week.

Two other dwarf azaleas, planted maybe 14 years ago under shade trees, were great bloomers. Then the trees had to be cut down so I started watering them frequently. Gradually the epidendrum radican plants growing nearby spread over into that sunny area, making a foot-thick mat around these azaleas that protects the roots. They still bloom beautifully from December into spring. I do hit them with water frequently, just to say "good job"!