Mt Cuba Center
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Carex barrattii
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Mt. Cuba Center evaluates native plants and related cultivars for horticultural and ecological value.

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Mt. Cuba conserves and stewards more than 1,000 acres including meadows, forests, streams and riparian corridors.

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Rhododendron vaseyi

Native Plants

Pink-Shell Azalea

4 Photos


Summary

Pink-shell azalea is among the first and most beautiful spring-flowering native azaleas to bloom with masses of light pink bell-shaped flowers on leafless stems. This deciduous, irregular rounded shrub reaches 8-12’ tall and grows best in filtered shade to full sun where soils are well-drained and acidic. In autumn, its foliage is transformed from bright green to an intense display of orange and red, thus igniting the garden with color. It is a splendid border shrub to combine with Rhododendron minus, Pieris floribunda, Kalmia latifolia and Leucothoe fontanesiana or used in masses with Mertensia virginica, Polystichum acrostichoides, Trillium simile and Stylophorum diphyllum.


More Details

  • Plant Type
    shrub 
  • Sun/Shade Conditions
    filtered-shade, full-sun 
  • Foliage Character
    deciduous 
  • Soil Moisture
    average, moist 
  • Flowering Period
    early-spring, mid-spring
  • Soil PH
    acidic 
  • Flower Color
    pink 
  • Summer Foliage Color
    green 
  • Fall Foliage Color
    orange, red, yellow 
  • Fruit/Seed Color
    brown