Kurume Azalea - turning Japanese
Azaleas are one of the most popular garden plants, and spring is the time they look their best, with a spectacular flower display. There are thousands of varieties of Azaleas available, ranging from tall growing "Indica" varieties to smaller dwarf varieties. The Kurume Azalea is a small to medium growing-height Azalea. It has compact growth, and small "hose-in-hose" flowers, meaning one flower inside another, sort of like a double flower.
The Kurume Azaleas are available in several colours, including the well known pinks and white varieties. There plants prefer a well drained, slightly acid soil, and a semi-shaded position out of the hot sun. They are best suited to a cool-temperate to warm-temperate climate, and you can plant these Azaleas in pots or in the garden. They are endemic to several asian countries including China and Japan.
I took these photos in Sydney's Northern suburbs where these Azaleas are now in full flower. 
@ctrl-alt-nwo,
I assure you I have never seen this flower and plant in my country! If I see it, I will definitely bring it home! Wow it's wonderful and I like that color of the flowers as well! You said it's available in several colors! I couldn't imagine the beauty if I see all those color plants in one area!
Thanks for sharing such wonderful details with beautiful photography!
Cheers~
Rhododendrons and azaleas are arguably the South’s favorite shrubs. Many people think of them as entirely different plants, but they both belong to the genus Rhododendron, which comprises more than 800 species and 10,000 named selections.
Even to the untrained eye, one difference between the two groups is obvious: rhododendrons generally have much larger leaves. From a technical standpoint, rhododendron flowers are bell shaped and have ten or more stamens, while azalea blooms are typically funnel shaped and have five stamens.
By making their choices carefully, gardeners in almost every part of the South can enjoy some of these plants, even if that means growing them in containers. Rhododendrons generally do better in the Upper and Middle South, though a number of selections thrive in the Lower South.
Azaleas, however, are more accommodating; with the necessary attention to soil, light, and proper selection, they can be grown throughout the South.
Source
Silly Sausage Award ! Great selection of Pics !
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Few plants can rival the spectacular floral displays of azaleas. Their vivid colors, profusion of flowers, and adaptability to a wide range of soils and climates make them one of the most popular flowering shrubs in Georgia. Although most people associate azaleas with spring, several bloom in summer and fall. By carefully selecting plants, you can have azaleas blooming at least eight months of the year.
Botanically, azaleas are members of the Ericaceae (Heath) family, which includes blueberries and mountain laurel. All azaleas are rhododendrons, and both are in the genus Rhododendron. The term “rhododendron,” however, is commonly used to refer to the group of plants usually with large, leathery, evergreen foliage, while “azalea” refers to those with smaller, thinner leaves. Generally, azaleas and rhododendrons have the same cultural requirements.
Source: http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B670&title=Selecting%20and%20Growing%20Azaleas
The Azalea plant has a very stunning flower with its pink that you had shown here @ctrl-alt-nwo and it is great to plant in the housefront as it will be a head-turner indeed.
Very beautiful flowers, they somehow resemble sakura, but in the form of tabernacles.
While azaleas are nowhere near as popular as they were some years ago, they’re still hard to beat when it comes to producing a mass of garden colour in winter and spring. Azaleas vary in size from small, rather delicate shrubs that are happiest in pots, to the large, hardy indica varieties that seem able to survive all the climatic challenges that are thrown at them. The latter group includes salmon-pink ‘Splendens’, purple ‘Magnifica’ and white or bicoloured bloomers that can reach up to more than two metres tall.
Most azaleas are at their happiest when grown in semi-shade or morning sun. These woodland plants have evolved to grow in the generations of leaf litter that have built up under forest trees. This type of leaf-mulch-derived soil is naturally acidic, which makes azaleas difficult to grow in soils that are tending towards the alkaline.
https://www.yates.com.au/flowers/grow/growing-azaleas/
Very nice flowers it looks like an artifacial flowers, the colour was too nice for the eyes.
great post sir!
The simple touch of this flower is great how cool and elegant it looks Kurume Azalea its beautiful :)
An Azalea bush, is a popular flowering bush and foundation plant, with bright spring blooms.
Azaleas bushes are members of the Rhododendron family. The biggest difference between the Rhododendron plant and an Azalea plant, is the Azalea is a deciduous bush. It sheds its leaves in the fall. The Rhododendron plant is an evergreen. In general, an Azalea bush is smaller in height, leaves, and blooms.
Most varieties of Azaleas grow two to eight feet tall. Fragrant blooms put on a show in the spring in white, lavender, bright orange, gold, red and purple colors.
Smaller in size, Azaleas are poplar potted plants as gifts for Easter and Mother's Day. After blooms die,transplant azaleas outdoors.
http://gardenersnet.com/tree/azalea.htm