Looks like a Rosebud

It does look like Rosebud, but Rosebud is not deciduous. It is an evergreen Gable azalea. The pictures sure look like an evergreen azalea. Mary, are you sure this is deciduous?

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ROSEBUD

Maybe in Zone 5 most of the leaves fall off. Some kinds of evergreen azaleas shed down to a small number at the tip even here in Zone 8.

In my 6b garden Rosebud is semideciduous, as well as Elsie Lee. I'm pretty much sure in z5 it can't be fully evergreen.

Good points bboy and ego.

Botanically and taxonomically it is 'evergreen' but in the garden it and many other evergreen azaleas are deciduous which botanists call being 'semideciduous'. Usually they keep their leaves longer than true deciduous azaleas, but drop them before they grow their first flush of leaves. Evergreen azaleas actually have two flushes of leaves each year. The first flush is usually shed in the winter, but the second flush usually makes it until after the next years first flush except in colder climates. Zone 5 is very cold for evergreen azaleas.

Thank you!!! I did a bit of searching, and it really does look like a Rosebud. It most definitely lost all its leaves last winter, aside from a few (and I do mean few) crispy stragglers that held on until spring. It is planted in a protected courtyard garden, surrounded by open brick walls, so it might be surviving the West Michigan winters in a slightly warmer microclimate.

This is my first azalea, but, as I redo several of my new gardens, I'm tempted to add more. I found the White Rosebud in my online searches, and it looks quite striking.

Mary

Mary, other may have a different opinion, but 'White Rosebud' is a quite different plant in many respects than a 'Rosebud' and I personaly wouldn't recommend it for the novice, especially in W.Michigan.
On another side, if you'll be able to grow it, you'll have all ahs and ohs from those who know no better than grow standard landscaping whites, "Delaware Valley White' or "Pleasant White'. Don't take me wrong, both a fine plants, but extremely overused, nevertheless.

Thanks for the caveat, ego45. Any specifics on how it's different or what might make it challenging? I've been looking at several nursery sites, but none say much more than a basic description.

Mary

They are both double evergreen azaleas. White Rosebud is an Auggie Kehr hybrid of Rosebud.

Rosebud: [Louise Gable x Caroline Gable], Pink, Flower broadly funnel-shaped, double, hose-in hose, 1 1/8" across, strong purplish-pink, flushed with slight veining of deep purplish pink, blooms Midseason, Height (ft.) in 10 Yrs: 4, -10°F (-23°C), Leaves 1" to 1 1/2" long, glossy, mid green. Spreading, dense habit (Gable)

White Rosebud: [Vervaeneanum Album x Rosebud], White, Flower about 2" across, double with about 40 lobes, white with green throat. Lax truss holds 1-4 flowers, blooms Midseason, Height (ft.) in 10 Yrs: 3, -10°F (-23°C), Leaves elliptic, obtuse apex, cuneate base, 1" long, glossy, bullate, mid green, held for 2-3 years. Dense, slow-growing plant. Upright habit (Kehr)