Azalea - no leaves

[debbielong]

:( We have been in our new house for about a year, and have about 30 azaleas. They all blossomed beautifully, but some of them are not leafing out - they look like brown sticks! What can I do to help them?

[pruninggal]

Depending on where you live the azaleas might not all be fully out or they might very well be dead. In the Pac. NW where I live, last summers drought was particularly hard on Rhodies and Azaleas and those without regular irrigation did not make it. Do the scratch test to determine if they are still alive - gently scratch a branchs bark with your nail - if all you see is brown no matter how hard you scratch, the plant may well be dead. If you do see some green give them some more time to leaf out.

Let us know!

[debbielong]

Thanks for the info - I did prune some dead branches, but the others that have no leaves are bendable, which tells me that they are alive. What is wierd is that it is not affecting the total plant, some have leaves on parts, and no leaves on the rest. Could it be some type of disease? Would Miracid help ? I'm willing to try anything, as they were beautiful, and I don't want to have to replace 15 azaleas..... :(

[debbielong]

BTW, I live in Raleigh, NC, Zone 7.