Autumn Twist® Encore® Reblooming Azalea

Large flowers striped purple and white, with solid purple blooms appearing on the same plant, so no two branches look quite alike. Rhododendron 'Conlep' grows 4 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide in full sun to part sun, hardy from Zone 6 through Zone 10.

The striping varies flower to flower and year to year, which is what makes it interesting rather than a fault. It grows fast.

Encore azaleas can flower up to three times a year. A traditional azalea blooms for a couple of weeks in spring and then stops, while Encores set buds on new growth through the season and bloom again in summer and once more in fall. Spring and fall give the strongest shows, with the summer flush lighter and more scattered. They also take more sun than most azaleas.

The foliage is glossy and evergreen, carrying the shrub through winter. Azaleas want acidic soil, roughly pH 4.5 to 6.0, with good drainage and steady moisture. Alkaline ground turns the leaves yellow. The roots sit shallow, so mulch matters more than fertilizer.