Usually, after flowering, my rhodos and deciduous azaleas drop their
petals neatly, leaving only the stigmas than can be fairly easily
removed by hand to discourage seed pod growth (if you want to make the
effort). This year has been different - the petals have just
collapsed, wilted, but not dropped, leaving the flower-heads looking
an untidy mess. I assume this is due to the dry weather, but I've not
seen it in previous dry years.

Am I right, and has anyone else had this experience?

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

Yes, I had this on my small azelea's last year, where the flower petals
just turned brown/dry and stayed put! Looks as if it might be happening
again this year, although I have jad to sweep up quite a few flowers
from the paths. It has been dry here in mid-Wales for the last few
weeks, but my brain does not streach back to last years weather :)

On 31/05/2022 08:17, Chris Hogg wrote:
> Usually, after flowering, my rhodos and deciduous azaleas drop their
> petals neatly, leaving only the stigmas than can be fairly easily
> removed by hand to discourage seed pod growth (if you want to make the
> effort). This year has been different - the petals have just
> collapsed, wilted, but not dropped, leaving the flower-heads looking
> an untidy mess. I assume this is due to the dry weather, but I've not
> seen it in previous dry years.
>
> Am I right, and has anyone else had this experience?
>