Azalea Wards Ruby

Common Name:
Azalea ‘Wards Ruby’

Description:
Azalea ‘Wards Ruby’ is a brilliant evergreen azalea celebrated for its masses of vivid ruby-red blooms that create a bold and striking display from late winter through to spring. The open flowers feature rich scarlet to crimson-red tones with lightly ruffled petals, standing out beautifully against the dense, glossy dark green foliage. Flowering heavily across the shrub, this variety delivers outstanding seasonal colour and year-round structure in the garden. Compact and neatly rounded in habit, ‘Wards Ruby’ is ideal for decorative pots, borders, low hedging, and woodland-style gardens where strong visual impact is desired. Well-suited to Melbourne’s temperate climate, it thrives in part shade but can also tolerate more sun in cooler conditions with adequate moisture. It performs best in moist, well-drained, acidic soil enriched with organic matter. This variety is highly valued for its intense flower colour, evergreen foliage, and reliable flowering performance during the cooler months.

Form:

• Shrub - Small

Mature Size:

• Height: 0.8–1.2 m
• Width: 1–1.5 m

Aspect:

• Full Sun
• Part Shade

Flowering:

• Flowers in Winter
• Flowers in Spring

Flower Colour:

• Ruby red
• Scarlet red
• Crimson red

Key Attributes:

• Bee Attracting
• Bird Attracting
• Evergreen
• Perennial
• Suitable for Borders
• Suitable for Hedging
• Suitable for Pots
• Sun tolerant
• Woodland garden plant

Toxicity:
Toxic if ingested. All parts of azaleas contain grayanotoxins and are poisonous to humans, dogs, cats, horses, and livestock. Consumption may cause vomiting, drooling, weakness, and more serious symptoms if large quantities are eaten.

Companion Plants:

• Camellia
• Clivia
• Daphne
• Ferns
• Gardenia
• Hellebore
• Hydrangea
• Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
• Pieris japonica
• Rhododendron