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Azalea Has Bloomed, Now What Must I Do?

Ask the Expert: I have an azalea that has bloomed.

Do I remove the blossoms or let them fall off by themselves?  Karen

Comments

  1. Karen,

    If an Azalea is outside it will shed its blooms without any intervention. However, for the health and beauty of the Azalea it is best to trim it at this time. If don’t trim it and decide in a few months that it needs a trim, you can potentially lose the blooms for the next season. Azaleas set their blooms for the next season about mid-July. So, it it best to trim them right after they bloom and before July 4th. I would also recommend fertilizing your Azalea once a month from April through August. I use a Fertilome Azalea food that has a systemic insecticide in it. This keeps my Azalea healthy and free from insects. Fertilome also makes an Azalea fertilizer than doesn’t have an insecticide in it.

    If your Azalea is a potted Azalea from a florist shop, you will want to trim the dead blooms off to keep them from shedding in your house. Depending on where you live you might want to plant it outside. Most florist azaleas are Azalea indicas which are hardy in zones 8-10. So if you live somewhere other than the southern US, you will want to keep it as a houseplant.

  2. Thank you! Do I pinch off the blooms? How do I trim it?

  3. Karen,

    If you have strong fingernails you can pinch the blooms off. I never have any fingernails so I use garden scissors to remove the blooms. You can trim right under the bloom or you can go lower to shape the plant. Try to make your cut at a 45degree angle right above some leaves.