Azaleas for the Landscape

I love azaleas. As a child, I used to pick the flowers and try to press them to save them the way we did with pansies and wildflowers. They never lasted! When I got my first camera, a little Kodak 110, I snapped photos of the May gardens in my hometown Floral Park, and azaleas always featured prominently.

We had a few azaleas in the backyard, including a yellow azalea that was kind of rare on Long Island. I found out much later on as an adult that my dad was also fascinated by azaleas and when he and my mom first bought our house, he tried to plant the whole yard with them. Then he realized he'd only have flowers in May, so he quickly added others, but he bought that orange-yellow azalea via mail order.  It struggled along in a lovely little spot under a dogwood tree in the corner of our postage-stamp sized garden. I think my big sister rescued it and dug it up before we sold my dad's house.  It's a good thing if she did, since the new homeowners ripped out all the landscaping and planted grass everywhere. I always wonder if they realize why their grass grows so well. It's all that compost undernearth from the 40 years my dad gardened!

I wrote a piece today about azaleas, but it didn't really capture my love for them, so I will probably add some articles over time.  I will be writing a series on various flowering trees and shrubs, so I hope you enjoy them.

Please click this link to read my latest article:  Azaleas for the Home Garden