Chinese Azalea Satan

Rhododendron 'Satan' is a variety of Chinese azalea that stands out with large, decorative flowers in a very bright red with yellow stamens. They bloom in clusters in spring, enhanced by beautiful light green foliage. Unlike Japanese azaleas, this plant is deciduous and perfectly hardy. In addition to its brilliant flowering, the shrub also offers sumptuous autumn foliage. Too little known and used, Chinese azaleas are very graceful acid soil plants, and have many qualities, definitely worth discovering in the garden or in a large pot on the terrace!

The Rhododendron is a shrub in the heather family, the Ericaceae, native to central and eastern China, which has produced most of the cultivated deciduous azalea varieties in gardens through hybridization. 'Satan' is a hybrid cultivar from the Knap Hill series, known for its larger and more colourful flowers. It is a vigorous shrub that is both slender and bushy, with an upright habit, reaching about 1.30 m (4 ft 4 in) in height and 1.20 m (3 ft 11 in) in spread. Its flowering occurs from the end of May to June, abundantly and for a long period, at the same time as the young coppery leaves appear. The large flowers have a wavy trumpet shape, are well open in a star shape and are gathered in terminal clusters. They are a vibrant geranium red, each slightly marked with orange on the back of the petals, whose veins are a greenish-white. The deciduous foliage is composed of simple, ovate-lanceolate leaves with entire margins, arranged alternately on the branches. Their size varies from 5 to 10 centimetres (2 to 3.9 inches) in length, and their bright green colour in summer turns into orange and then into fairly dark red in October before falling. Rhododendrons have a shallow root system, which should never lack moisture, but they dislike stagnant humidity that suffocates them.

Chinese azaleas thrive in cool climates with distinct winters, planted in humus-rich and fertile soil, free of active limestone. They are very beautiful shrubs for flower beds, with a very natural habit, attractive twice a year. They happily accompany Japanese maples, which also change their appearance throughout the seasons, as well as Japanese camellias and their graceful cousins with often fragrant autumn flowering, the hybrids of C.sasanqua. They can also be grown in a carefully chosen large pot, in a suitable substrate, and preferably watered with non-chalky water. The extraordinary beauty of deciduous azaleas deserves some care to recreate the conditions they prefer.