The petunias that I grew from seed are doing well and most of them are blooming now. We are very pleased with the wall around the patio; I wish we had thought to do it sooner. It gives it more of a enclosed feeling and with the evergreens and container plantings we have more privacy.
There is nothing quite like spring in Tuscaloosa, Alabama when all of the azaleas are in bloom. I don't see many azaleas here, and that is what I miss the most from my garden back home. It makes me very homesick every spring when my mom tells me how pretty her azaleas are, especially while we are still getting snow. I have been seeing these beautiful azaleas lately and decided that I had to have one for my garden here. My soil is probably too alkaline but I hope that I can keep it alive with some Miracid or something similar.
Everyone has a flower that reminds them of "home", don't they? You will have to give the azaleas some TLC to keep them going, but they are certainly hardy enough to grow here. But they won't get as big as they do down south!
ReplyDeleteHi Robin,
ReplyDeleteJust to say I’ve enjoyed my visit to your garden, thank-you.
A thought occurred to me – have you ever considered growing small species rhododendrons? Their flowers are similar to the azalea and their leaves are evergreen. I have a few and they do have lovely blooms – I would expect them to be hardier too. I know they wouldn’t replace the azalea – it is quite a special plant.
I too have been writing since Nov 2006. Although much of my gardenwatch has been on birds so far – I am most definitely a gardener first and look forward to posting some blooms from Scotland on May 15th. What a lovely idea that is – to see blooms all around the world on the same day!
Perhaps it is possble to grow them in containers, big containers? They are lovely, aren't they? I have a friend who has many of them and every year in May I go see the azalea's in flower.
ReplyDeleteHi Robin,
ReplyDeleteMust've missed your post on Azaleas until just now. The azaleas that do well in Zone 5 are the Yedoense, var. 'Poukhanense', or the Korean azalea and Azalea Gable 'Karen.' The Korean azalea is a lavender color and Karen is a deeper pink/purple. I've planted these two azaleas in client's gardens for over a decade and all of them have survived. They are spectacular as well.