Azalea 'Washington State Centennial'

[Wallace]

Have you tried this one ?  R. occidentale (Western Azalea) is persnickety.  They won't grow east of the Rocky Mountains.  They even respect the Alta / Baja California border.  One parent of Centennial is a hybrid of the Western Azalea and the Cumberland Azalea.  The latter is native to the Cumberland Plateau in Kentucky.  It is willing to grow in gardens elsewhere.  The other is a Slonecker hybrid, which is predominantly Western and probably would not grow here.

Mine came from Oregon, but is doing well in Ohio.  The shiny crinkly leaves are always attractive.  The flower color cannot be described as it changes colors.  Orange buds opening to brilliant yellow, then white with a yellow blotch, and they are frilly. 

This is my all time favorite Rhody, unfortunately the ancestry will restrict sales to our west coast.

Larry Wallace
Cincinnati, Ohio
Estados Unidos

[Maggi Young]

Hello Larry, it's great to have you join us!
I am familiar with Azalea 'Washington State Centennial' because I know it was one of the American Rhododendron Society "rhodo of the year" awards in 2006.
There's a photo of it on this page:
http://www.rhododendron.org/roy06nw.htm   

It was one of only two plants actually registered by the talented rhodo breeder Frank Mossman ...1916-2009.  I found this article on him.....
http://www.rhodies.org/homePhotos/Mossman.pdf

I can't recall having seen this plant offered in the UK and a search of the RHS Plantfinder for this azalea shows that it was last offered in 2009. So, it must be around somewhere in this country... be good to hear from anyone who grows it here.

Isn't it fascinating how some plants have such well-defined geographical boundaries? And how frustrating for the gardeners who want to break those boundaries!?! Of course, breeding hybrids to overcome such restrictions is a really neat way to "fool" the plant and please the grower.

I know what you mean about the changing colours of the flowers as they mature.....azaleas are particularly beautiful when they do this, aren't they, because it is a real shift of shading, rather than the simple fading that many rhodo flowers do. 
We'd love to see photos from your plants, by the way!