Japanese Azalea Palestrina

The Japanese Azalea or Azalea japonica Palestrina is an old white-flowering variety that is still very popular for its upright habit, excellent hardiness, and exceptionally beautiful spring flowers. This handsome evergreen bush is clothed in light green spring foliage, and clusters of large funnel-shaped white flowers with a delicately speckled lime green throat in spring. This particularly hardy variety won awards in England in 1969, 2002, and 2012 for both its ornamental qualities as well as its performance in the garden. Give it the conditions it loves: semi-shade and a well-drained, lime-free soil that remains moist throughout the year.

The Rhododendron obtusum is now considered a hybrid of Rhododendron sataense, R. kiusinum, and R. kaempferi. It is a shrub with mostly evergreen foliage from the Ericaceous family. All these perfectly hardy plants are native to Japan, China, and Korea. It is characterized by dazzling spring flowers and foliage that is not completely evergreen. Two types of foliage can be observed on these azaleas: the spring foliage, which is not very thick and relatively wide, and the foliage that forms at the end of summer, which is tougher and smaller. The spring leaves fall in autumn, while the majority of the leaves produced at the end of summer will last throughout winter.

'Palestrina' is a particularly floriferous cultivar, created in Boskoop (Netherlands) in 1926. The bush is of medium size and has a bushy, upright habit. It will reach a height of approximately 1.40 m (4.59 ft) with a spread of 80 cm (31.5 in) at maturity. The flowers last for about 3 weeks, usually in May, depending on the climate. The large trumpet-shaped flowers, 6.5 cm (2.6 in) long, are mostly bright white but occasionally touched with very pale pink and invariably speckled with green in the centre. They are gathered in generous terminal clusters that almost completely hide the vegetation. The foliage consists of simple, oval lanceolate leaves with smooth edges, arranged alternately on the branches. The size varies from 4 to 5 cm (1.6 - 2 in) in length, and they are fairly light green with a matte finish. Azaleas and rhododendrons have a shallow root system that always needs to be kept moist, but they also dislike waterlogged soil which would suffocate them..

Japanese azaleas thrive in cool climates with distinct winters, planted in humus-rich, acidic soil, such as ericaceous soil enriched with compost. In these conditions, they are beautiful evergreen shrubs for borders or flowering pots, attractive all year round. They are a perfect accompaniment to heathers, Pieris, Japanese maples, or their relatives, the Chinese azaleas that change colour throughout the seasons. They can also be paired with Japanese camellias and their graceful cousins, the often fragrant autumn-flowering hybrids of Camellia sasanqua. This Palestrina variety which stands the tests of time and fashions, will look wonderful on the terrace or balcony, in a large carefully chosen pot, in suitable soil and watered with lime-free water.