Azalea japonica ENCORE Empress Conles

The Encore 'Empress' Hybrid Azalea is a delightful perennial variety with particularly bright pink, semi-double flowers. It belongs to the Encore series, which has made the Japanese Azalea almost as decorative as roses, with its successive and spectacular flowerings. This lovely evergreen bush blooms two to three times a year depending on the climate: first in late winter or early spring, then during the summer before a beautiful resurgence in late summer or early autumn. Thriving in full sun or partial shade and relatively hardy, the Encore hybrid Azaleas are very versatile and come in a variety of styles, with single or double flowers, more or less compact and in a range of colours including white, red, various shades of pink, salmon, and orange vermillion. Mix them together to create either rustic flowerbeds or more sophisticated displays. Like all Azaleas, 'Empress' prefers non-calcareous soils, moist but well-draining and fertile enough to sustain its multiple flowerings.

From a botanical point of view, Azaleas are actually Rhododendrons, plants from the large Ericaceae family. The hybrids from the Encore series, distributed by Globe Planter, were created thanks to Buddy Lee, a talented American nurseryman specializing in these plants. These quite fantastic Azaleas are the result of a long process of hybridisation and selection, with the aim of obtaining varieties capable of flowering several times a year, as well as withstanding the sun.

'Empress' is a large variety, with a rather upright and bushy habit, informal in appearance. The bush reaches about 1.20 m (3 ft 11 in) in height and 1 m (3 ft 4 in) in spread, and is rather slow-growing, though slightly faster than the classic Japanese Azaleas. Its particularly abundant first flowering begins in March-April taking the form of pure pink, satin-like, semi-double flowers, punctuated with a few small darker spots at the centre. They are about 5 cm (2 in) in diameter, funnel-shaped, and gathered in small terminal clusters. A second wave of flowers begins in late May, when new shoots appear, already bearing new flower buds to open in summer. A final flowering occurs in early autumn, usually in October. The foliage of the Japanese Azalea, more or less evergreen depending on the severity of the winter, consists of small, simple, glossy, elliptical leaves with smooth edges, arranged alternately on the branches. They are rather light green in spring, darkening in summer. This variety is hardy down to -12/-15°C (10.4 - 5 °F). 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.

Japanese azaleas thrive in cool climates with distinct winters, planted in humus-rich and acid soil, such as ericaceous soil. In these conditions, they are very beautiful evergreen shrubs for flowerbeds or pots, attractive all year round. They harmonise beautifully with heathers, Japanese maples, or their relatives, Chinese Azaleas, which change their colours with the seasons. Combine them with flowering cherry trees, Japanese camellias, and their graceful, often fragrant, autumn-flowering cousins, the Camellia sasanqua hybrids. This 'Empress' variety will look wonderful in a large, cool, moist rockery or or mixed with Chinese Azaleas, blue perennial geraniums (Rozanne, Orion) or paniculate hydrangeas in a small Japanese or romantic-style garden.  It will also make a beautiful suject in a pot to adorn a terrace or balcony, planted in suitable soil and watered with lime-free water.