Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea

Light Needs

Part Shade to Full Sun

(4+ Hours Direct Sun)

Mature Height

3 Feet

Mature Spread

3.5 Feet

Growing Zones

6 to 10

Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea offers lavender-purple flowers marked with darker freckles, giving each bloom extra depth up close. The single flowers appear heavily in spring, then return in summer and fall when the plant receives enough light and steady moisture. Rhododendron 'Robles' PP22762 grows into a rounded evergreen dwarf shrub about 3 feet tall and 3.5 feet wide. Our landscape designer uses it where softer purple bloom color can cool down red brick, warm stone, or golden foliage nearby.

This reblooming azalea came from breeder Robert Edward Lee’s Encore program and was selected for cold hardiness and a naturally rounded habit. It was bred from Rhododendron 'Watchet' and Rhododendron 'Conleb', giving it a useful mix of flower color, compact size, and repeat bloom potential. Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea is hardy in Zones 6a-10b and keeps glossy green foliage through winter. Plant it as a low hedge, in grouped foundation plantings, at woodland margins with open light, or in large containers where the purple flowers can be viewed at eye level.

Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea Care

Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea flowers best with 4 to 6 hours of direct sun, especially morning sun followed by afternoon shade in warm regions. Choose acidic, humus-rich soil that drains freely and holds moderate moisture. A soil pH near 5.0 to 5.5 is ideal, and raised planting can help in heavy clay areas.

Keep the shallow root system from drying during the first year by watering slowly at the base, letting moisture soak beyond the original root ball. After establishment, check the soil during dry spells and water when the upper few inches begin to dry, since long dry periods can reduce later bloom cycles. Feed lightly after the spring bloom with an acid-loving azalea fertilizer, and stop feeding by August so new growth can harden before cold weather. Mulch with pine needles, pine bark, or wood chips, keeping the mulch off the stems.

Prune Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea just after the main spring bloom if a stem sits outside the rounded outline. Clip spent flower clusters when practical, and remove dead or winter-burned tips once fresh spring growth shows where cuts should be made. Site plants away from strong winter wind and walnut-family tree roots, as azaleas can be sensitive to juglone in the soil.

Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea Spacing

Set Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea 36 to 42 inches apart for a full low hedge, or give each shrub 4 feet of room in mixed borders. For containers, use a pot at least 18 inches wide with drainage holes and an acidic bark-based potting mix. Repot when roots fill the container. Water pots from the top until water drains through the bottom so the entire root ball is moistened.

Autumn Lilac Encore Azalea grows well with mountain laurel, pieris shrubs, leucothoe, and sweetspire in acidic beds with open shade, morning sun, and moisture-retentive soil. Ferns and hellebore make good foreground partners in filtered light. In containers, use coleus, lobelia, or bacopa around the edge for seasonal color and similar moisture needs.

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