Azalea mollis Glowing Embers

The Azalea Mollis 'Glowing Embers', also known as Chinese Azalea, is a wonderful cultivar derived from a Chinese shrub also called Rhododendron molle. Unlike Japanese Azaleas, this plant is deciduous and very hardy. 'Glowing Embers' has been a favourite for over 60 years, with its flamboyant spring flowering exuding a refined fragrance that seems to float above a swirl of large orange and copper-red flowers. Its gleaming autumn foliage is equally sumptuous, with a deep red hue. Too little known and too little used, deciduous Azaleas are very graceful plants that thrive in non-chalky soil. They have a host of qualities, and should be planted without hesitation in the garden or in a large pot on the terrace!

The Rhododendron molle is a shrub from the heather or Ericaceae family, native to central and eastern China, which has given rise to most of the deciduous azalea varieties grown in gardens through hybridisation. 'Glowing Embers' is a British hybrid cultivar developed in the late 1940s by Lionel de Rothschild. It is a vigorous, upright and graceful shrub, reaching about 1.50m (4 ft 11 in) in height and 1.30-1.40m (4 ft 4 in-4 ft 7 in) in spread. It flowers abundantly over a long period from the end of May until June, at the same time as the young copper-coloured leaves appear. The large copper-toned flowers are funnel-shaped with ruffled edges and gathered in terminal clusters. They are heavily scented with a fragrance reminiscent of honeysuckle. The deciduous foliage consists of simple, oval-lanceolate leaves with smooth edges, arranged alternately on the branches. They vary from 5 to 10 cm (2 to 3.9 inches) in length, and their dark green summer colour turns orange and then a rather dark red in October. Azaleas and Rhododendrons have a shallow root system that always needs to be kept moist, but they also dislike waterlogged soil which would suffocate the roots.

Chinese Azaleas thrive in cool climates with distinct winters, planted in humus-rich, fertile, lime-free soil. They are beautiful shrubs for borders, with an attractive, informal habit, blooming twice a year. They are the perfect accompaniment to Japanese maples, which also change colour with the seasons, as well as Japanese camellias, or their graceful, often fragrant, autumn-flowering cousins, the Camellia sasanqua hybrids. They can also be grown in a large, carefully chosen pot, in suitable soil, and watered with lime-free water. The undeniable beauty of deciduous Azaleas merits the changes needed to create the conditions they prefer.