Begin forwarded message:

> From: mark halim <markhalim@...>
> Date: May 3, 2009 12:03:20 PM EDT
> To: azaleas@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [AZ] color change
> Reply-To: azaleas@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
> [this is from the ASK US page, so please send me a CC]
> I have an unusual phenomenom happening - all my azaleas are more
> reddish looking this year (except for my one white one and the
> evergreen pale lilac one). I have about a dozen of them, different
> vartieties, colors include dark orange, red, pink, fuschia, etc,
> planted all around the yard. Live in Missouri (zone 5-6) south of
> St Louis in the area that is hilly and wooded generally with oaks,
> maple, hickory, cedar, redbud, and dogwood. The ground is
> generally a nightmare--lots of red clay and rock that has to be
> amended to grow anything.
> Our spring has been great for vegetation - plenty of rain and
> unusually cool for us (today should be in 70s but is upper 50's),
> which actually is keeping the spring blooms longer than normal.
> Plus, haven't seen the dogwoods this beautiful in years--the blooms
> are bigger than they have been in a long, long, time. Come to thing
> of it, haven't seen the azalea blooms this big in a while, either.
> Never had a soil test but assume our soil is generally acidic
> because of the woods. Some azaleas I've had 20+ years and although
> slow-growing, they do quite well as far as blooms, without adding
> acidic amendments to the soil. I heard blueberries are hard to
> grow but started a few 2 years ago and they are flourishing.
> Curious to see if anyone might know what is causing the azalea
> blooms to turn red.
>