Azalea mollis Cecile

Azalea mollis 'Cecile' is an old variety of Chinese Azalea with a relatively compact habit and a delightful spring flowers in shades of pink, orange, and yellow. Its funnel-shaped flowers are quite large and ruffled, blooming just before the foliage unfurls, opening from dark pink buds into light salmon-pink corollas, speckled with golden-yellow and orange. Its autumn foliage is remarkable. Unlike Japanese azaleas, this plant is deciduous and very hardy. Too little known and too little used, deciduous Azaleas are very graceful plants growing in chalk-free soil, with a whole host of qualities so do not hesitate to plant it in the garden or in a large pot on the terrace!

Rhododendron molle is a shrub in the heather family, Ericaceae, native to central and eastern China, which has given rise to most of the deciduous azalea varieties grown in gardens through hybridisation. 'Cecile' is a British cultivar created by Lionel de Rothschild in 1947. It is one of a series of hybrids known as Knap Hill Exbury. This cultivar was one of the winners of the 2007 Rhododendron of the Year competition organised by the American Rhododendron Society. It also won an award from the Royal Horticultural Society of England.

'Cecile' is a relatively slow-growing, upright shrub. It has a bushy, slightly spreading habit both graceful and dense. By the age of 10, this Azalea will be about 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in) in height and 1 m (3 ft 4 in) in spread. In optimal growing conditions, it can eventually reach up to 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) by 1.30 m (4 ft 4 in). Its flowers over a long period in early or late May, at the same time as the young leaves appear on the hairy branches. The flowers, 7 to 9 cm (2.8 to 3.5 in) wide, are funnel-shaped and grouped in terminal clusters. They gradually change colour from a dark salmon-pink to a pale orange-pink when fully open. The upper petal has  dark yellow to orange speckles. 5 long, arched, soft pink stamens contribute to the beauty of the flowers. The deciduous foliage consists of simple, oval-lanceolate, smooth-edged leaves arranged alternately on the branches. They vary from 5 to 10 cm (2 to 3.9 inches) in length, and their dark green summer colour turns to reddish-orange-purple in October. Azaleas and Rhododendrons have a shallow root system that always needs to be kept moist, but they also dislike waterlogged soil which would suffocate the roots.

Deciduous Chinese Azaleas have fewer requirements than evergreen, Japanese Azaleas: they are very hardy and tolerate sunny positions, and even dry soil on occasion, depending on the hybrids. However, they give their best in cool climates, with distinct winters, planted in humus-rich, fertile, lime-free soil. They are beautiful shrubs for borders, with an attractive, informal habit, blooming twice a year and the perfect accompaniment to Japanese maples, which also change colour with the seasons, as well as Japanese camellias, or their graceful, often fragrant, autumn-flowering cousins, the Camellia sasanqua hybrids. 'Cecile', with its multicoloured palette, will be magnificent when combined with other Chinese Azaleas in shades of pink, yellow, white, orange, peach, mauve or red. The undeniable beauty of deciduous Azaleas merits the changes needed to create the conditions they prefer. They can also be grown in a large, carefully chosen pot, in suitable soil, and watered with lime-free water.