Many of the hybrid deciduous azaleas available today are the result of over 160 years of hybridizing utilizing numerous plants native to the United States, Europe, and Asia. The story of these hybrids begins with the discovery of deciduous azaleas on the east coast of the United States. Around 1738 these plants were beginning to be introduced to European gardens.

Plant hunters were known to have collected and identified azaleas in the United States and collections distributed to wealthy Europeans were considered precious treasures for their gardens. Much of the early hybridization was accomplished in Ghent, Belgium around 1825.
~ https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v40n1/v40n1-cash1.htm

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