Yamato satzuki azalea

[brentwood]

Picked up this little azalea, repotted in a wider pot, removed a volunteer that had moved in with. Tried a "Japanese soil mix" (akadama, ezo sand, kiryu) and some kanuma, gave the rootsa good bath. I kinda want to see it bloom once, then maybe try and pick the trunk line I want. Above familiar with this variety, any suggestions?

Thanks!
B

 

[brentwood]

This is a late bloomer, evidently - put out a few, lovely blooms recently

B

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Nice project tree! Be a fun journey.

Will need to get strong and robust before working this tree. Be sure it gets decent regular fertilization.

Believe this Satsuki is an older cultivar (1972) used for larger azaleas. Large flowers give this away. It’s is a very late late bloomer

Wondering why the odd media mix if kanuma was available?

Looks like the tree was cut down before I saw the link?

Here are the different flower patterns. Sorry, Kind of a weird image from the satsuki dictionary



Cheers
DSD sends

 

[brentwood]

I need to look again, but I tend to mix pumice in with my kanuma, use akadama as a top dressing - the raccoons have changed that distribution a few times already. I have not done any trimming on it, probably would not have let it bloom this year, but I was surprised by those, interesting to know that it's normal behavior.
Next spring I'll put in a bigger grow pot, very much a project tree, just sounded interesting when I saw it, and it's a better match for my yard than the junipers I tend to like.

B