whats your soil.. ever have a soil test???

do you do anything for acid soil

whats your watering protocol ...

ken

I give them each a small amount of sulfur in the spring and holly tone.
I spray a couple of times in summer for lace bug.
Don't water as they are all established.
Are they big drinkers?

Are you asking about the genus andomeda (small low growing evergreens with rosemary-like leaves and blossoms like a blueberry) or pieris (much larger and more rhododendron-like) which is often erroneously called andromeda?

If it's the first, this genus is notorious for looking great at the nursery - heavily fertilized and bloooming away. Once planted out, they generally decline and never look as good as they did when purchased. The most common species available is andomeda polifolia which grows naturally in cold, sunny, highly acid bogs. Unless cold bog conditions can be reproduced, they're just not good garden plants.

If you're asking about pieris, more specific information is needed.

Pieris.
All my andromeda are 2-5' tall, but several have pale leaves and are rather thin with very tiny flower buds or already dried up buds which means no flowers this spring

I too have a couple of pieris japonica that I need some advice on. I am new to them, and actually new to gardening. I bought 2 of the new Fire N' Ice variety a couple of weeks ago. I still have them in pots in the house because it is still pretty cold here in WA. Now they look very wilted and some of the leaves are turning brown.

I am very confused because I am also caring for two flowering quince, a flowering almond, and a Rose of Sharon in pots which look quite nice and I have treated all of these shrubs the same. And I am raising some hibiscus seedlings that are doing great. So I don't think I have a black thumb.

I am at a loss. I gave them some extra water because I thought that might be the problem. I really don't want to lose these two plants. Could they need some fertilizer even if I just got them from the nursery?

Pale leaves in pieris can be from lacebug damage the previous summer despite your spraying. Check the leaf undersides. If you see stippling and brown shiny deposits, lacbugs are the cause. Other causes are fertility problems, root rots, watering.

Dried up flower buds are a sign of winter dessication from cold, sun and wind.

A for the pieris indoors in pots - too warm and excessive water would be my guess.

This may not be the case for either poster, but over the last several years I've seen an increasing number of pieris varieties for sale - especially at the big box stores - which are not really suitable for the climate in which they're being sold. This is especially true of varieties with red leaves in spring. Most (all?) of these
have pieris taiwanensis somewhere in their ancestry - that's where the red comes from. P. taiwanensis is not as hardy as p. japonica and hybrids between the two are iffy in Z5/6 climates.

I had a pieris japonica that declined and died over 2 years in the ground. I was told that they like woodsy soil, maybe our soil is not acidic enough?

I am looking for information on japanise andromedia. I saw it in a garden book but can't find it. Does anyone out ther have one?

Japanese andromeda is probably Pieris japonica, the most commonly available species. P. floribunda, the native species, is rarely if ever available commercially.

So, mainegrower, what pieris cultivars would you recommend for New England and similar climates? Acid soil. Zone 5 here. Thanks.

ginny12: Check with nurseries in your area to see what selections they are selling (and warranting!). You can also check online at Weston's Nursery (MA), Estabrooks or O'Donals (ME) and undoubtably many more. A sizable number of new selections from the Netherlands has appeared in recent years. In general, those with pieris yakushimanum in their genetic makeup will be fully hardy in Z5.