Encore Azalea Takes Its Dark Turn with Autumn Velvet

As goth gardening, moody color palettes and personalized landscape designs command attention, consumers are looking beyond traditional pinks and pastels for plants that bring contrast and individuality to the garden. Just in time, Autumn Velvet®, the newest introduction from Encore® Azalea, arrives with rich, dark maroon blooms and the performance expected from the reblooming azalea brand.

But Autumn Velvet was not developed simply to follow a trend. Its story stretches back decades through the work of Encore Azalea inventor Buddy Lee, whose extensive plant collection gave him a broad genetic foundation for developing new varieties.

For years, Lee maintained more than 1,000 named azalea varieties. “It was like being a collector, like those people who collect McDonald’s toys,” Lee said. “Having those big collections gave me a large genetic base to access.”

That collector’s mindset aligns with what the 2026 Garden Trends Report calls the “Personal Museum”—a growing consumer interest in collections that communicate identity, memory and taste. For gardeners, that can mean pursuing unusual cultivars, distinctive flower colors and plants with a story behind them.

Lee began pursuing darker-colored azalea blooms in the 1990s; his interest in the color category intensified again around 2012, leading to renewed evaluation of seedlings with unusually deep-hued blooms.

A darker flower was not the sole goal; Lee also wanted blooms capable of maintaining their appearance under the bright, demanding conditions in which Encore Azaleas are often grown. Dark petals can absorb heat and may show damage more readily than lighter-colored flowers, he said, resulting in scorched or burned petals.

“A lot of times the dark colors do not hold up to sunlight, but these seedlings really held up well,” he said.

Lee describes Autumn Velvet’s flower color as rich and dark, with an additional quality that becomes apparent in bright conditions. “It tends to sparkle in the sunlight,” he said.

The variety’s ornamental appeal is supported by a vigorous but manageable growth habit. Lee describes the plant as rounded or mounding, with little need for corrective pruning. It grows to an average of 4 feet tall and wide in the landscape.

The plant also grows well in full sun, an important point of differentiation for Encore Azalea as the first and best-selling reblooming azalea series on the market.

Lee described Autumn Velvet’s heavy spring bloom, followed by another flush in late summer, around August in Southern climates. “Later in fall, they tend to be spectacular for their third and final bloom of the year,” he said. “As the days cool off and there is more spring-like fall weather, it regenerates into full blooms.”

Autumn Velvet’s rich bloom color delivers a twofold advantage to retailers: The fall-flowering shrubs offer color on the shelf at a time when many plants have finished blooming, and the darker flowers pair easily with the copper, gold, burgundy and muted tones associated with fall displays.

Beyond its ornamental qualities, Lee repeatedly returns to Autumn Velvet’s durability.

“This is a tough plant,” he said. “It made it through my nursery, and that’s a tough trial environment.”

He has observed a strong root system, few insect problems and less lace bug pressure under his evaluation conditions. University trials have also shown Encore Azaleas to be more resistant to lace bugs.

For growers and retailers, Autumn Velvet offers several stories in one plant. It speaks to the renewed appeal of dark, dramatic gardens. It reflects consumers’ interest in collecting distinctive cultivars. And it provides a practical, reblooming shrub with a manageable habit and strong seasonal color.

Most importantly, it represents the continuation of a breeding program built on curiosity, persistence, and a collector’s instinct for recognizing something different, backed by a serious commitment to direct-to-consumer marketing.

With Autumn Velvet, the darker side of the garden is ready for a longer season in the spotlight.