Azalea japonica Arabesk

The Arabesk Japanese Azalea is a fine improvement on the 'Vuyk's Scarlet' variety, valued for its resistance to the cold and its luxuriant May blooms. It has more and even brighter flowers on a plant that has retained its parent's beautiful compact, domed shape. Very large, brilliant carmine-red flowers bloom above small, decorative, mostly evergreen leaves, which take on lovely coppery-red hues in the colder weather. This brilliant Azalea is a reliable, hardy and generous plant.

The Arabesk Azalea was developed by the Vuyk van Nes nurseries, in 1970. It is part of a series of evergreen hybrids very close to the original Rhododendron kaempferi created from 1921. These bushes perform well in cool and humid temperate climates, with distinct seasons.

'Arabesk' is a dense, rounded, medium-sized variety that spreads with age. It reaches about 80-90 cm (31.5-35.4 in) in height and 1.20 m (3 ft 11 in) in spread by the age of 10. This slow-growing shrub will not exceed 1 m (3 ft 4 in) by 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) even after many years. Its dazzling flowers bloom over a long period in May. The very large flowers of 6 cm (2.4 in) in diameter with pretty wavy edges are a superb, shimmering, carmine-red with hardly a trace of pink. They are funnel-shaped and are gathered in terminal clusters of 4 to 5. The evergreen foliage consists of small, simple, elliptical leaves with smooth edges, arranged alternately on the branches. They are a light green in spring, a shiny, dark green in late summer turning bronze, copper and purple in winter. 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.

Japanese Azaleas thrive in cool climates with distinct winters, planted in humus-rich, ericaceous soil. They are very attractive evergreen shrubs for borders or containers, attractive all year round. They are a perfect accompaniment to heathers, Japanese maples, or their relatives, Chinese Azaleas, which change colour with the seasons, as well as Japanese camellias, and their graceful, often fragrant, autumn-flowering cousins, the Camellia sasanqua hybrids. This Arabesk variety, which spreads more in width than in height, can be used to play with levels and fill the gaps beneath larger ericaceous shrubs. It will look wonderful in a large, cool, moist, shaded rock garden or at the front of borders, as well as on a terrace or balcony, in a large, carefully chosen pot with suitable compost and lime-free water for watering.