Autumn Sangria® Encore® Reblooming Azalea

Autumn Sangria carries the largest flowers in the Encore line, dark pink to fuchsia blooms about three and a half inches across, saturated enough to read from across a yard. Rhododendron 'Roblee' 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 habit is dense and full without pruning, and it grows fast, up to a foot a year.

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.

This is one of the taller Encores, usable as an informal evergreen hedge rather than only a foundation shrub. Azaleas want acidic soil, roughly pH 4.5 to 6.0, with good drainage and steady moisture. Alkaline ground turns the leaves yellow. Mulch the shallow roots.