Landscape Notes: A spectacular floral display that few plants can rival, and multi-seasons of color give you a must-have shrub. Azaleas are beloved by gardeners and now there is one you will adore even more as Perfecto Mundo® Double Purple Reblooming Azalea Rhododendron x blooms for months. The foliage is bright green – a perfect setting for the large, deeply saturated, purple blooms. Each lovely, double flower is ruffled. This azalea blooms in spring, takes a rest, then blooms again in mid-summer and late summer to frost. The shrub grows 30-36 inches high. It has improved hardiness, improved reblooming, and improved lace bug resistance.

Exposure/Culture: It thrives in fertile, well-drained organic soil. Acidic soil is necessary for azaleas, with an ideal pH around 5.5 to 6.2. It thrives in sun or part shade. Add 3-4 inches of shredded bark mulch, tapering to 1 inch at the base of the plant. It is shallow-rooted and does not like wet feet. To determine when to water, pull back a small area of the mulch and check the moisture level of the root ball and surrounding soil. If the top few inches of the soil feel dry, wet the soil deeply, to at least a depth of 6 to 8 inches. Fertilize in early spring with a complete acid-forming fertilizer, following the instructions on the label. Prune immediately after the shrub’s spring flowering. Give it a light trim at that time to encourage new growth and more blooms.

Other Notes: With a mounded, uniform habit, this evergreen shrub is low maintenance once established. It has few diseases and its resistance to lacebugs is a big plus. There are multiple ways you can use it in your garden; it is more versatile because it is a rebloomer. In addition to planting in front of the house or on banks, plant one in the role of thriller in a container or as a specimen or focal point in a border. This shrub makes a spectacular backdrop to other plants or to frame an area. Use it in mass plantings, along a boundary, or as edging to a border.