anouk azalea

order: ericales
family: ericaceae
genus: rhododendron
species: obtusum
cultivar 'Anouk'

First Story

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5 may 2004

'Anouk' is my most recently acquired rhododendron, or better said azalea. I learned that "Anouk" is a diminutive form of "Anna" in Dutch. So I started calling her "little Anna". After its main flowering season in April and May, the garden centre put it on sale. This particular plant still had quite a number of flowers and unopened buds on it. I was lucky to pay only half the normal price while being able to enjoy the flowers for 2 weeks.

This is the tightest azalea I have ever collected. Given time, space and all that it needs, the bush should grow into its ultimate size of about 50 cm in height and 1 m in width. The leaves are small and dense which render the plant top-heavy. I can feel the crown oscillating on its slender stem when I move it around. I am surprised as new growth turned out to be so compact despite being placed on the shady north side of our house. While its flowers are not quite as big as those of my other azaleas, they are significantly larger than the leaves.

Update

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25 february 2016

In flower late April 2015.

Last year, I was busy with a lot of things. I managed to shoot quite a number of portraits for my plants but haven't got the time to put them up here, including the one above. As you can see in it, this little plant was completely shaded out by its own flowers. It looks like it will need a bigger pot really soon. 2015 was a really dry year. It was really hard for me to keep up with the watering. Since I'm not going to be home for most of my time starting this year, I'll definitely have to pot it up several sizes at once. I'm already looking forward to the flowering season 2016.

Right before the buds unfolded, they looked like some pink chilis.