WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — To bloom or not to bloom. The constant weather changes so far this year have many of us wondering what to wear each morning, but just think how the azaleas feel.
The Azalea Festival will be here in a few weeks, but this year it falls a little later in April.
Local gardeners are hoping the colder weather will help delay the blooms, but the festival’s president said the fun will go on either way.
“There is so many of them in the area when they bloom, they bloom all at once and it’s such an impressive show,” Airlie Gardens Ground Maintenance Supervisor Scott Childs said.
Azaleas are a staple of spring in southeastern North Carolina, but the latest freeze and temperature changes play a major role in their bloom, and how many we will see before this year’s Azalea Festival.
“It’s just the weather this time of year. The weather is so variable if you had consistent springs every year you could predict exactly when it would bloom,” Childs said.
Childs said when the buds open they are more susceptible to the cold and can be severely damaged. But also said the colder weather might keep them from blooming early and give them more time.
“It’s great that there are some that bloom earlier and some that are later or else you would have a small window and they would be passed,” Childs said.
The 2018 North Carolina Azalea Festival President Justin Wolfe said he hopes they hold out, but has many other concerns.
“Trying to control the weather is not one of them. We certainly hope the azaleas will be out as you can imagine with the weather. The way its been lately, I think we still feel pretty good about that. We got a month to go,” Wolfe said.
As the prep for the big day next month continues, maybe extra luck will be planted.
“Some how it always works out. One of the things we’ve been blessed with is a lot of good luck and hopefully it will continue this year,” Wolfe said.
Childs said once the flowers bloom they last about two weeks. He said the azaleas that have already bloomed will probably be dead before the festival, but there is still time.