I have several reginae, both normal and alba forms, coming from Hillsdale nursery in a week or two. These are all 4+ year old plants. I have read through most of the posts and found them very helpful, so thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share their knowledge and experience.

Our temperature extremes in Wisconsin range from a low of -20F in the Winter to the 90's in the summer. My soil is not suitable as it is, being mostly clay. With that information in mind, I have the following questions:

1. Would you plant all outside in the ground, all in pots or some in the ground and some in pots?

2. Reginae needs to be provided extra light. Would the east side of the house, where I have my azaleas, provides good protection from drying winter winds, but direct sunlight until 1 in the afternoon be too much light?

3. What type of mixture do you grow reginae in? I understand that they have large, but shallow root zones, and I was planning on digging out and area 3' in diameter and about a foot deep.


Thanks for you help
Gary

1. Both would be fine but I prefer ground for mature plants because in my expirence you get bigger healthier plants.

2. Your location seems fine to me but reginae could benifit from the addition of some calcium supplements like clam shells if you azaleas grow well in that area.

3. I use a mixture of sand/turface at 2:1 ratio with a little organics mixed in for my outdoor beds with pine needle mulch. If grown in pots I use perlite/turface at 2:1 ratio again with at little organics mixed in. For digging pots in the ground I find if you buy some plastic or lawn scape fabric to place in a hole it work better then a pot.

That's my two cent so lets wait to hear what Ron, Tom, or Ross have to say.

Thanks for the reply.

I wasn't quite sure if sun until 1pm would be too much light. I'll just need to pay attention to it and provide some shading if it is too much light.

Descriptions of mixes for pot culture tend to be all inorganics. But I don't find as much information for growing in beds. I should be able to get turface, since it is carried by a local athletic supply company.

Gary,

This species is native to your state and is fully adapted for your climate. I think one o'clock isn't too late for this one to get sun as long as it doesn't get any more after that time. During the hottest times in summer be sure to provide it lots of water though with that kind of exposure. The leaves may turn a bit yellow on you, but I think it will be fine there.

Concerning the compost to use in an outdoor bed, I think turface isn't necessary. I would use a "dirty sand" mixture, that is, 70-80% fine sand ("dune sand") and the rest some organic material that's not too acidic in reaction. Really it doesn't matter what organic material you use as long as the pH is adjusted to around 6.5 or so. I would make the bed at least a foot deep and a couple feet wide at the minimum.

In pots I would consider using turface or perlite mixed at the same ratio as the dirty sand mix with some organic material. If you do pot them realize that they grow immense root systems such that they will quickly out grow most conventional pots quickly.