Rhododendron austrinum (Small) Rehder, Stand. Cycl. Hort. 6: 3571 1917. (syn: Azalea austrina Small);

USA (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi) as per Catalogue of Life;


Seen in the last week of Oct,18.

Could this be the Florida Flame Azalea
Rhododendron austrinum?
Experts kindly verify or correct me if wrong.


Most azalea bloom here in the spring and some in the summer. Florida Flame normally blooms from early to mid Spring. There are hybrids that have been bred to extend bloom time; some collections are Encore, ReBloom, and Bloom-a-thon.  You might look at Rhododendron oldhamii but I think October is a bit late even for that one. 


Thanks for the info. This was in late October.
I will check the ones suggested.


Can we think of Rhododendron ‘Gibraltar’?
This was seen close to the banks of the Chattahoochee River in a garden.


There are thousands of hybrids to choose from and most people plant the hybrids as they are more reliable in the garden. 

Most bloom in spring; there are re-blooming hybrids but not usually as late as October.
One thing that might explain a plant blooming at that time of year would be if the weather had turned cold enough for the plant to experience sufficient chill hours after which there was a warm spell.


Yes, I remember it was cold and raining for a few days and then it was sunny. That was the day I went to the ABG for my second visit and got perfect light.
As of now, I will take it only as a Rhododendron Hybrid.
This was the first time I saw these flowers in Orange.


Azaleas Native to Southern USA are known to bloom in late summer to early fall, including October.

What we have here is a very common native azalea around the Chattahoochee river:

the picture is that of Rhododendron austrinum 

Yes sir its Rhododendron austrinum 


Thanks for validating my post.
I had suggested Rhododendron austrinum in my initial post itself.


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