Azaleas bloom at Orton Plantation in April 2007.
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Asian Native
The Azalea in Wilmington
by Jeff Minnich
WBM FILE PHOTO
zaleas are part of the huge genus Rhododendron.
The most popular azaleas grown in southeastern
North Carolina are the Southern Indian (known as
‘Indica’), with their enormous flowers in many
brilliant colors. They are considered midseason azaleas, blooming
halfway through the long azalea blooming season. ‘Formosa’
(magenta), ‘George Lindley Taber’ (white with pink throat), and
‘G. G. Gerbing’ (white) are popular Indica varieties. These are the
main type of azaleas in the great gardens of Airlie, Greenfield Lake
and Orton Plantation.
There are deciduous azaleas native to the United States, but
evergreen azaleas are Asian natives. Most of the evergreen azalea
varieties grown in the southeastern US are from Japan, particularly
the Indica and Kurume groups.
“Azaleas are originally native to China, Japan and Korea, and
were introduced to European gardens by English and French plant
explorers,” says horticulturist Charlotte Glen, local North Carolina
Cooperative Extension agent.
Experts agree, the first Indica azaleas came from Boston to
Magnolia Plantation, near Charleston, South Carolina, in the
mid-1800s. Magnolia is the first garden in the Southeast to grow
azaleas. Azaleas may have made their way to Wilmington from
Magnolia or from another plantation.
In the mid-1800s, there were very few commercial nurseries, and
due to the economy, plants were available only to wealthier citizens.
Plantation owners may have brought azaleas to one another on
visits or sent them with interplantation shipments, but commonly,
plants were passed along from gardener to gardener.
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