Creek Bank Bed #10" This plant is a hybrid cross of the R. arborescens and R. cumberlandense.
R. arborescens, the Sweet or Smooth Azalea, is a deciduous azalea found from Pennsylvania south to Georgia and Alabama. It is a good late flowering, scented species that can be used in cultivation. The flowers have a strong, cinnamon-like fragrance. It has white to blush pink flowers with red stamens, and a very strong fragrance similar to heliotrope. It blooms in late spring to early summer and individual flowers measure 1.5 to 2 inches across. It has glossy leaves and red fall foliage. This species has a wide distribution in the eastern United States, but can usually be found growing near streams or moist areas. It is sometimes known as the "Smooth Azalea" because the stems are very smooth and do not have hairs similar to the other azaleas. An excellent landscape plant, R. arborescens can perfume a wide area when in bloom.
R. cumberlandense, the Cumberland Azalea, formerly R. bakeri, is a low deciduous azalea found in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. It is an excellent, low-growing, late blooming orange to red-flowered azalea suitable for small gardens. Plant height varies from 1 foot up to 6 feet. The flowers are not large, about 1.5 to 1.75 inches across, and typically range from yellowish-orange to deep red. This species is sometimes difficult to distinguish from the larger flowered R. calendulaceum , but the blossoms generally appear several weeks later after the leaves have fully expanded and the undersides of the leaves are usually waxy white or bluish in color. This native azalea makes an excellent landscape plant in its own right, but it also hybridizes easily with many of the other species, producing beautiful hybrids in a broad range of colors.