Swamp Azalea

Rhododendron viscosum

Swamp azalea is the last native azalea to bloom, opening white to very pale pink flowers with long protruding stamens in June and July when the spring azalea season is long over. The flowers are intensely, almost overwhelmingly fragrant. a sweet clove-like scent that carries on evening air in a way few garden plants can match. The name 'viscosum' means sticky, referring to the glandular hairs on the tube of the flower that trap insects. It grows naturally in wet swamps and bog margins throughout the coastal plain, which makes it the right plant for the wet spots in the yard that stay soggy all season. Hummingbirds and clearwing moths work the long-tubed flowers in the evening. Fall foliage is typically orange to red. This is a fragrant, graceful shrub that performs best where it has consistently wet feet. the problem site it was born to solve.