(Azalea) Bollywood™ Azalea has lots of color! Bright neon red-pink flowers engulf this compact semi-evergreen Azalea in spring. Vivid, glossy silver and dark green variegated foliage supplies the color the rest of the year. The variegated foliage and small size makes Bollywood™ Azalea a good use for edging walkways and fitting into tight spaces. Also great for groupings or masses, perennial or shrub borders, as a specimen, and mixed containers. 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. Semi-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. The second season in the ground, repeat the pinching practice (or lightly shear) up until mid-August. Stop pruning after mid-August, because the flowers are on old wood this would 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: 2010 Patent Strings: Bollywood™ Rhododendron 'Farrow' PPAF Can. PBRAF