Do you have Azaleas and Rhododendrons in your garden? Do you ever think of cutting them for displaying inside of your home?
My husband and I have both Azaleas and Rhododendrons on our property – at least nine of them. A few Azaleas and the rest are Rhodos. All but two Rhododendrons must be close to twenty years old, if not older. They are trees not bushes!
Until this spring I had never considered Rhododendrons or Azaleas as cut flowers for our home. A few weeks ago I did a bit of research on the Internet and discovered they can work quite nicely as cut flowers. So, for the last few weeks, I have been enjoying these lovely blooms inside of our home, and outside.
For some reason, both the Rhodos and the Azaleas seem to have bloomed at different times this spring. Some have already bloomed and are done for the year. Others are just blooming now. Weird! Maybe it’s like this every year, but this is the first year I’ve noticed this happening.
The blooms on the Rhododendrons, in particular, are so numerous it’s not like you are stripping the plant to gain some blooms. Removing a few blooms from each plant is not noticeable, and they show lovely in our home.
Keeping Cut Rhododendrons & Azaleas Fresh
Like any flower, to keep the blooms looking good for as long as possible, change the water every few days and give the bottom of the stem a fresh cut at the same time.
My cut Rhodo and Azalea have lasted about a week, maybe a few days more. The key is cutting them from the live plant while the blooms are still fresh, or once they’ve just opened.