(Azalea) Bloom-A-Thon® Red Azalea, reblooming for season long color!  The new Bloom-A-Thon® series of Azalea provide a highly extended season of Azalea color. Watch for Bloom-A-Thon® to bloom in May, midsummer and watch for color to extend through the fall until the first frost.  Bloom-A-Thon® Red is  bright red in color and has heavy ruffled edges. The dark green, disease resistant evergreen foliage contrasts nicely with the bright blooms. This reblooming Red Azalea stands 3-4' tall and does best in a part shade to shade location. The long bloom time makes Bloom-A-Thon® Red Azalea  great for landscapes, borders, foundation plantings and even is a great woodland garden choice. Good drainage is essential for this plant; water regularly, especially when newly planted. Little pruning is needed, but plants may be trimmed after flowering. Stop pruning by midsummer as this plant flowers on old wood. Apply a controlled release fertilizer for hollies and rhododendrons in early spring. Plants in southern climates will benefit from some shade. Plants in northern climates may need some winter protection. Deer resistant and Evergreen. As a young plant it is best to prune or pinch your plant in order to build a full-bodied, well-branched plant. If the plant is leggy when you purchased it, shear the plant back hard by 1/3 to 1/2 its original size. Once it puts on an inch or two of growth, pinch the branch tips to remove just the growing tips, these tips control branching. Once growing tips are removed the buds below it will turn into stems. Once these new branches grow an inch or two, pinch the tips out again. You can repeat this throughout the first growing season as you are tending your garden. Although you will sacrifice blooms, this technique results in a well-branched, full-bodied plant that will have more flowers in subsequent years. During the second season in the ground, repeat the pinching practice as decribed above. Do not prune after mid-August, since the flowers are produced on old wood this will allow time for the flower buds to form prior to winter. During the third and subsequence seasons, prune or pinch as necessary after flowering and before buds set in mid-August. Do not be afraid to prune or shear your plant harder if you wish to maintain a shorter size. Introduction Year: 2012 Patent Strings: Bloom-A-Thon® Red Azalea Rhododendron Hybrid 'RLH11P2' PP: 21562