The word Satsuki means, in Japanese, 'Fifth Month', according to the oriental lunar calendar. For westerners, they bloom primarily in the month of May, with a few late cultivars in early June in the south. The preferred Japanese pronunciation is 'sat-ski', with a silent 'u'. There is a very wide range in flower color, form, leaf shapes and color, habit of growth in Satsuki hybrids, perhaps more variety than in any other evergreen azalea group. The oldest known treatise on any evergreen azalea group is Kinshu Makura ( A Brocade Pillow) written in 1692. They have long been used in bonsai, and specimens may be several hundred years old. The origins have been lost in the midst of time, but new scientific techniques may shed some light on their genetic makeup. The difficulty remains with the unpredictability of many hybrids, as some are highly unstable, reverting back to earlier flower forms and colors. Satsuki hybrids were first imported to the west coast in the late 1900s, but the first official introductions came in 1938 with the USDA importation of 53 clones under B. Y. Morrison. Very quickly, they found their way into hybridization programs from the Glenn Dales, Back Acres, Robin Hill, Harris Hybrids, etc. Flower size can range from some among the smallest to the very largest forms in evergreen azaleas. The biggest problem, particularly in the south, remains petal blight due to fungal spores being splashed up onto the late-blooming buds and flowers.