Outside is snow and ice, but inside it is blooming.

very pretty

Thank you. It is even prettier :) I made the photo with cellular phone, so it doesn´t have that good colour. :))

Nice being able to take photos with the phone I think! Great invention!

it's nice to have something like that at home:) you probably know it Katarina - but just in case - keep it moist all the time. They are very thirsty plants;-)

how well do they survive outside kasy? i have one that i bought in the summer, when it finished flowering i put it outside in the shade and of course lots of rain on it, it seems fine but can they cope with the very cold weather?

errrr Sticki - to be honest I don't know from my own experience. But I think they should be fine. So fingers crossed. They look like a garden type of azaleas to me - so can't see why they shouldn't cope;-)
I'd say lack of moisture in winter while temperature drops below 0 would be more dangerous for them than the low temperature itself. That's what evergreens can suffer from.

ok, thanks kasy, is it possible some garden centres sell azaleas as indoor plants ~ separately from the outdoor variety?

my theory is they are outdoor plants forced to bloom earlier than they would naturally do.

that sounds about right to me kasy and therefore they need a bit of looking after!

I think Kasia is correct. These azaleas are sold as indoors but if you plant them in the spring they will root and grow as garden azaleas. I have that experience. Have a look on my white azalea, which I bought several years ago as indoor plant and planted it in the garden. It is like a white cloud in spring :)) And survived even minus 20 C frosts last winter.

that was a really good one kat! im sure i have planted them out before and they havent always done well ~ maybe its a bit of a ploy by the shops ~ they dont have to guarantee it will do well outside if they sell it as an indoor plant?!!

Here is the one I planted out some years ago. Unfortunately, you cannot see the size, it grows further in width.
http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/203215-moje-azalky/member/katarina

wow, its fabulous! white flowers are always very special

It is like with people Sticki, no guarantee for quality, even when it is a famous name :)
I bought Albert Schweitezer rhododendron 2 years ago. Beautiful, expensive. It grows well one year, then it started to show "die back" sort of disease and contaminated all my rhodies in the mom´s garden.

thats very sad.

I have the best experience with plants from Tesco, which are imported from the Netherlands. Dutch quality..

looks a lovely one Kat :-)

Thank you, Slad :)) Azaleas are my weakness.

lol :-))

Do you have any in your garden?

i have Azalea Luteum, and i have 3 rhodies, R.Cosmopolitan, R Shamrock and the common R.Ponticum i have these in memory of my dad he used to specialise in azalea's and Rhodies.

Yes, I rememeber that. I never saw R. Cosmopolitan and Shamrock. If yours will bloom in spring, please, send here photos. Or did you already send those in the past?

i think i did this year, but i will post more when they flower next. :-)

Lovely, a promise of what's to come kat....

Oh yes, I was today enjoying the air. I felt spring in the air and it was pleasant 8 degrees of Celsius during the day, some sun too.