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Ericaceae
Pinxterbloom Azalea
Rhododendron periclymenoides
Wild Appalachian beauty and Pentecostal joy.
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Genus
- Rhododendron
- Native to
- eastern United States
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- deciduous shrub
- Height
- 100–300 cm
- Sunlight
- part shade to full sun
- Soil
- acidic, moist, well-drained
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 4–8
- Lifespan
- perennial shrub; decades
Did you know
- 'Pinxter' comes from the Dutch word 'Pinkster' meaning Pentecost, because it blooms around that holiday in the mid-Atlantic.
- The flowers appear before or alongside the emerging leaves, giving the shrub a cloud-like appearance in spring woods.
- Dutch settlers in New York celebrated Pinkster festivals where these azaleas were gathered for decoration.
- The flower tubes are sticky with glandular hairs that discourage nectar-robbing ants from climbing up.
- George Washington recorded transplanting wild pinxterbloom azaleas to his Mount Vernon gardens in his diary.
Color meanings
Pink
wild spring celebration
White
woodland purity