Swamp Azalea is a late-blooming native azalea of wetland habitats, flowering in June and July after most other native azaleas have finished — filling swamps and bog edges with intensely sweet-spicy fragrance that carries for considerable distances on warm summer evenings. The flowers are white to pale pink with a long, sticky, glandular tube that traps short-tongued insects, ensuring that only long-tongued pollinators like hummingbirds and swallowtail butterflies successfully retrieve nectar. It is highly tolerant of wet, flooded soils and is diagnostic of acidic wetlands.
Best time to see a Swamp Azalea
The best time to see a Swamp Azalea is June–July, when about 67% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 2,602 research-grade iNaturalist observations.
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