Hello, Cherrisa. Lack of water during the critical summer months can reduce the bloomage because that is when the buds form.

Weather issues can also affect the number of buds if the variety is not planted in its USDA Zone, if its location is always windy or if you get a lot of ups and down in temperatures. Lots of acidic mulch should help conserve the soil moisture in normal and windy times.

Planting them in too much shade can also reduce the bloom production so ck that they still get some sun. Sometimes the culprit is another bush that grew taller during the last year and now blocks the sun.

Using high nitrogen fertilizers can also reduce the number of blooms (azaleas are not heavy feeders).

Here in Texas we had a pretty rough drought and the same thing happened to me. Lost one azalea and one camellia. The bloomage on the Encore Azaleas was not up to par with previous years either while the rest blommed well (go figure?). One of the non-encore azaleas dried up considerably but, it bloomed and is growing back again. I pruned the dead wood last month so knock on wood!

See if any of these suggestions applies to your situation and take appropriate action. Good luck next spring!

Luis

That would explain why my two on the side don't bloom. They are in complete shade. Can I replant them somewhere else where they get more sun? What about the ones that look really bare is there any way to promote more leaves?

They transplant easily if they are healthy.

You need to see if you have the correct cultural requirements. They need a good moist, acidic, well-drained soil. They have shallow roots and are very susceptible to drought and soil disturbance. But they don't like wet soil, as it will cause root rot which will kill them. They don't like very much nitrogen fertilizer as it can keep them from blooming, but will promote the growth of leaves. They like partial shade, but too much shade will keep them from blooming. They do worst in clay soil in full sun. It has poor drainage, is usually not acidic, and they fry in the sun.

They can be pruned but will not bloom if pruned after mid summer. The flowers buds have already formed by then and pruning will remove them.

They respond well to a good mulch. It will keep the roots moist and cool in summer and prevent freezing and thawing in winter.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to raise Azaleas

Rhodyman, this has no bearing on Cherrisa's original question, but knowing how much you enjoy rhododendrons and azaleas, I'm sure you'll take this info in the spirit as intended -

'worst in clay soil in full sun. It has poor drainage, is usually not acidic, and they fry in the sun'

Many of us on the west coast from northern california to BC are gardening in clay or clay based soils...happily much of it is high in organic content ( but that's not to say it hurts to address the drainage some areas with additional compost). It's naturally acidic as would be expected in high rainfall climates. With the number of cloudy days during the growing season, we can get away with much less shade than other areas, and can plant azaleas in what would amount to full sun if the sun were only shining.

Rhododendrons and azaleas basically take care of themselves here, which is not to say full sun and clay in Cherissa's Tennessee would be anywhere close to the same environment.

I appreciate the advice. I will say that they are in raised man made beds next to a brick house. I did mulch them with pine needles in the fall. My guess is that they didn't get enough water because it was very dry last year and I don't think I watered them enough. I know this because I also lost my magnolia bush in the back yard. It's good to know about the shade though because my rhodi's on the side of the house look terrible and I'm guessing it's because they don't get enough water or sun. They are pretty much in total shade.

My azalea's in the front I will be more aware to water them this year but will they fill back out again? Will they grow more leaves and branches to make up for the ones that either died or look terrible?

My azaleas in the back one died because I'm sure the roots got disturbed to much by the fact that the gutter spout goes right under the bed under that one azalea. The other one died because my dogs use that part of the bed to run through to get into the yard so I'm sure it got packed down to much for it.

I just want to know how to save the others. I'm guessing I have to move the ones that are in total shade as they haven't ever bloomed yet.

Cherissa, have you had a chance to take that photo for us?

About the downspout - does it travel under the bed and empty rainwater farther out, or does it drain into the bed?

If you know, how old are the azaleas or how long have they been planted? You've been in the house 2 years, were they new plantings then? You did say you had blooms last year; your problem might be directly related to lack of summer water and not shade as you are thinking.

If the shrubs were new and bloomed last year from buds set while they were still in the nursery, they could now be planted in too much shade for good bud set. If they have been in the ground longer and failed to bloom this year, you have to think what was different last summer when they would have been setting flower buds for this Spring.

I'll take pictures in the morning and post them for you. The downspout travels under the patio and empties under the bed. (they built the bed on top of the drainage) I'm not sure how long the plantings were in place but I'm guessing they were pretty new because the azalea that died did so pretty quickly in the last year. We moved in in July of 2004 so I've really only had 1 spring/summer in this house and have been pretty much pulling out most of the plantings that the old owners put in because I have a lot of shade and she planted a lot of sun lovers in it. Lilacs don't bloom in the shade.

Anyway, since this is my first house I kind of wanted to see what was all here. I did water but guess I didn't water enough. I'll point out some things when I put up the photos in the morning.

I really appreciate all of your help!

Cherri

Ok here are the images.
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#'s 2,3,and 4 have didn't bloom last year either although they did look healthy last year

#'s 5, 6 and 7 bloomed last year. #6 has 1 bloom on the back side. All the closeups of the plants are at the below link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Close ups and all photos

This is the backyard
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#10 is where the water spout goes under. That one died and I just recently dug it out.

# 11 is where the dogs run through. That one was almost completely dead and I ended up pulling that one out also and just planting thyme there instead.

These all bloomed last spring.

You can see the closeups at the above link

These are my sad rhodi's on the side walkway in the back of my house. Pretty much complete shade. I haven't seen them bloom. Or any of the iris's either for that matter. I probably need to move all of them.

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You can see the closeups at the above link.

Cherri, your photos are great, but it's a little hard to tell the sun/shade pattern from them. From what I see, I don't think shade is your problem; the overhang from your roof is not deep and they seem to be getting at least bright light. Correct me if the trees are casting more shade than I am guessing.

The azaleas in the short bed, where you have already removed a couple, look like drought and probably compacted soil. Nothing you didn't already know.

The others look like they are suffering a real lack of water but there is some inconsistency in the photos...you have a healthy looking rhododendron with bud right next to a nearly dead azalea. Same area, azalea #6 looks good.

Maybe a long shot, but I'm almost tempted to guess that someone went through the beds when the house was listed and added some 'curb appeal', possibly not paying too much attention to installing the plants. The dried up azaleas may have either been planted too deep to where their roots could not function, or planted pot bound so that the water you did provide wasn't able to penetrate a tight rootball.

You said you removed two azaleas, did you notice anything remarkable about their roots when you took them out?

If the rhododendrons by your side walkway were installed about the same time, less than adequate water and just being somewhat new may be reason for no flowers yet...it's not unusual for rhododendrons to spend their first couple of years after being planted becoming established in place of setting flower buds. You do have a rose with reasonable foliage nearby, so not too much shade for that ? Most of these plants look somewhat young and not long time established to me....

Thank you for looking at my photos. Yeah I can't figure out why 6 is so healthy and 7 is not considering I probably water 7 more since it's right by the hose. I am finding out they did not spend much time on plant selection and where they put them. I don't know how long they were in before they put the house up. A lot of it was probably only a year or two.

The sun comes up pretty much where I stood to take the first photo and goes up around the huge oak tree that you can kind of see the leaves in the photos to the left side of the house where there are more trees. 2,3 and 4 might get a dapple of sun in the morning but it doesn't last long with the tree there. The rhododendron in the far corner on that side is finally blooming as the oak leaves naturally blow into that corner and I made my husband leave them there. That poor baby wasn't getting enough water. I am finding that everything is looking better this year since I mulched in the fall which I did not do the year before.

The rododendrons on the side of the house are in complete shade because the sun comes over the house but by the time it would fall over to put sun there the trees on the other side shade it. The rose bush behind it and the one in front of it have yet to bloom. The only thing that blooms in that bed are the daylilies. They look much better this year since I mulched that bed in the fall. I just think it was drying out to quickly.

When I pulled those two out it was pretty easy. The roots had spread to the drip line but they were tight enough I couldn't knock any dirt out of them.

There are a number of problems. One is that the brick construction leaches lime into the soil and this is bad for azaleas. They like an acid soil and lime neutralized this. You can get agricultural sulfur to acidify the soil. Do not use aluminum sulfate, it is toxic to rhododendrons eventually.

If the shade is coming from the house itself, it probably explains the lack of bloom.

Too much water and too little water are big problems. A water drain can drown a rhododendron easily. A drought can do in a rhododendron easily also.

You have nice raised beds. It is hard to tell if they have a nice well drained loam soil and a layer of mulch. The brick wall will cook plants that are facing south. A mulch will help keep the roots cool.

You have a nice green lawn. Lawn chemicals can be extremely harmful to a rhododendron. The fertilizer is mostly nitrogen with will make rhododendron plants look good but not bloom. The weed kill will harm and eventually kill anything besides grass.

The leaf color of the large leaved rhododendron and a couple of azaleas looks good and doesn't indicate a PH problem to me...they would all have the same symptoms on the same wall.

I still think most of the problem is in the original plant installation. Those azaleas look completely dried out ...

I pruned out all the dead wood yesterday and it looks like they were putting out new leaves and some new stems so I made sure to that were mulched good also with oak leaves and pine needles.

I'll just baby them this year and keep them mulched and watered and see how they do.

Thanks!
Cherri