Azalea plant

An azalea plant having medium-sized, bright-red hose-in-hose flowers in clusters of three to five on terminal ends of branches. The plant branches well, is compact, and is extremely winter-hardy in the Washington, D.C. area. The flowers on a given plant come into bloom simultaneously and force well when buds are set outdoors. The plant naturally blooms about April 27th in Washington, D.C.

SUMMARY 
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of azalea plant 
produced as a result of deliberate hybridization. The plant's seed parent 
is a pink Gumpo Satsuki and its pollen parent is Hexe. In this respect, I 
froze pollen from Hexe which blooms about May 1st in the Washington, D.C. 
area and crossed it onto the pink gumpo which blooms about June 25th. My 
purpose was to obtain a brilliant red, very-late-blooming dwarf azalea. 
The plant is named "DJO" and was identified by me as hybrid number 77-55. 
My "DJO" is not the late-bloomer I was seeking, but its brightness of color 
and profusion of blooms at an early age distinguished it from known 
varieties. Additionally, the plant exhibits essentially spontaneous bloom. 
That is, a plant which appears to contain only buds on one day is 
essentially all in bloom on the next no matter whether the branches be 
located high or low on the plant. In this manner, the "DJO" sharply 
distinguishes from its pollen parent which tends to have blooms which open 
over a period of about ten days or so. 
The above-described cross resulted in about 300 seedlings. Some were kept 
indoors under lights during their first winter. Others were kept in a cold 
frame during severe winter weather. All were kept outside in containers 
during the following winter when other plants were lost which had survived 
as many as 20 earlier Washington, D.C. winters. My "DJO", however, was 
among the survivors of the second winter; bloomed that year on April 27th; 
and, exhibited no leaf-tip burning. 
In addition to my "DJO's" above-described characteristics, the flowers hold 
their color evenly as they open and until they dry up on the plant about 
ten days later. 
I proceeded to reproduce my "DJO" asexually by cuttings; and, the 
characteristics I noted in the original plant came true with succeeding 
propagation and each plant which developed had the characteristics of my 
original discovery. 
I did not achieve my original objective of a late-blooming brilliant red, 
but my DJO has a unique combination of characteristics which distinguish 
it from other varieties of which I am aware--its characteristics being as 
follows: 
(1) a bright red color 
(2) a spontaneous bloomer 
(3) a good forcing plant 
(4) a dwarf tendency 
(5) very winter-hardy in the Washington-D.C. area 
(6) easily propagated 
Some cuttings from my DJO were taken in July and others were taken in 
October after buds were set. Half of each group were grown indoors under 
lights and the other half were kept outside. The bud-set "DJO" cuttings 
that were brought indoors are so easily forced that the first bloom 
occurred on December 15th, with all buds opening on the same day.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSURE 
The following is a detailed description of my new "DJO" variety in which 
the terminology of the colors corresponds to the Nickerson Color Fan 
published by Munsell Color Company, Inc. of Bethesda, Md. and distributed 
by the American Horticultural Society of Mt. Vernon, Va. 
PLANT 
Type: Hardy; dwarfish; compact. 
Habit: Initially upright then branching and spreading. 
Rooting habit: Roots easily from cuttings taken either before or after bud 
set. 
Blooming habit: Tends to set buds evenly on terminal ends of branches with 
three-five hose-in-hose florets per terminal end. All buds open at almost 
the same time. 
Foliage: Simple leaves, in normal quantity, small to medium. New leaves 
form at about the time of flowering. The tops of the new leaves are color 
plate 7.5 Gy 5/7 moderate yellow green and age to a moderate olive green 
plate 7.5 Gy 4/4. Before dropping the tops turn to a plate 7.5 Gy 3/2 
greyish olive green. The bottoms of new leaves are plate 5 Gy 5/6 moderate 
yellow green; and before dropping are plate 2.5 y 4/4 moderate olive 
brown. 
Main stems: Grow to a plate 10 Yr 3/1 brownish grey. 
New shoots: Begin at plate 5R 3/7 dark red mottled with hair-like portions 
of plate 7.5 Gy 6/8 strong yellow green; and grow to plate 10 Yr 4/4 
moderate yellowish brown. 
Buds: Buds form at plate 2.5 R 4/10 moderate red and open to a plate 2.5 R 
5/12 strong red. 
FLOWERS 
Size: Individual flowers average from about 3-4 centimeters in diameter and 
are terminally located on short stems. 
Continuity: One season lasts for 12 days of petallage. The number of petals 
under normal conditions is usually 5 in each hose. The color opens as 
noted above (2.5 R 5/12) and is essentially uniform down to the throat of 
each hose. The color, however, changes slightly with age to a plate 10 RP 
4/12 strong purplish red. The color at the base of each throat is a plate 
10 RP 6/12 deep pink at both the inside and outside. The petals are only 
slightly ruffled and about 31/2 centimeters in diameter at their widest 
part and 3 centimeters in diameter at their narrowest part. 
REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS 
The stamens are usually five in number and about 13/4 centimeters long 
extending to about 11/2 centimeter below the top of each flower which is 
about 31/2 cm in length so that the flower's overall dimensional 
characteristics are about "square" (31/2 cm .times. 31/2 cm). At the base, 
each stamen is from chart 7.5 YR 9/4 pale orange yellow and a chart 10 R 
7/9 strong yellowish pink at the mid points. 
The pistal is about 23/4 centimeters long and extends to within about 1/2 
inch of the top of its flower. At its tip the pistal is a chart 2.5 R 4/10 
moderate red with the color changing to chart 10 RP 4/12 strong purple red 
toward its base.