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Key characteristics

Family: Ericaceae
Height: 3 to 4 ft
Width: 3 to 4 ft
Flower color: Reddish-purple
Foliage color: Glossy, dark green evergreen leaves
Bloom time: Spring (typically May)
Light: Part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium; benefits from a layer of mulch to retain moisture and regulate soil
Growing zone: USDA zones 5 to 7
Wildlife: Flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies; evergreen foliage provides shelter and winter interest for birds and small wildlife

Shrubs

Rhododendron 'Atalanta'

Atalanta Azalea

Rhododendron 'Atalanta' is a compact broadleaf evergreen with a neat, upright-rounded habit and medium green foliage. In midseason, usually in May, it carries clusters of funnel-shaped blooms that are reddish purple with a slight bluish cast and appear in trusses at the branch tips. Evergreen leaves hold through winter, giving structure in mixed borders, woodland gardens, or low hedges.

Classed botanically as an evergreen azalea, 'Atalanta' originated in early twentieth-century breeding work on hardy evergreen azaleas, and remains valued for dependable midseason flowering.

Light

Part shade

Water

Medium

Bloom time

Spring (typically May)

Find this plant

Works well in

Shade Gardens
Foundation Plantings
Hummingbird Gardens
Woodland Gardens

Companion plants

Aucuba · Hellebore · Brunnera · Japanese maple · Lungwort · Autumn fern

Design tip

The naturally neat shape of ‘Atalanta’ can bring a little order to the looser growth of a woodland-style planting. Repeating it in a few spots creates a gentle sense of rhythm, with the reddish-purple spring flowers adding bursts of color through the garden.