A closeup of the flower and then the battery in the camera died.
Back home, the patient deciduous Azaleas that waited to bloom for a couple of weeks and missed the last winter blast are joining the Rhododendrons in bloom.
A much less common, possibly unusual yellow Rhododendron. Both of these are still small plants.
The big boys have been here for a couple of decades.
They line many a path on the ridge top garden. Over the next few days and week they should burst forth in full splendor.
For other selections of bloom from around the garden blogosphere visit Bloom Day Central at Carol's May Dreams Gardens.
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8 comments:
Hi Christopher, those rhodies are the stars of the mountain for sure. Blue Boy is my favorite, but the yellow, it may be Capistrano, is dear to my heart. So glad to see the deciduous azaleas blooming there, ours are all but done, one late one, Canon's Double still has color is all. Yours is a gorgeous blend of warm colors, love it.
Frances
Wow, I wish we could grow Rhododendrons that well here. As we can't I don't even bother. They are too beautiful to not grow well.
Do southerners call them rhodos? It's rhodies in Calif. Do yours have exfoliating bark? It they do it would be very had for me to resist pruning them to show that off.
One of my fondest memories is of camping in NC years ago near the Smokies, close to Wolf Mt. The Rhodos were in full bloom and the native Azaleas were a riot of orange and yellow. It was like parting the curtains to heaven.
Frances beat me to the comment on this one, Christopher - yes, it is the yellow Rhodie that does it for me, too! They're all pretty but that one is so beautiful. And they don't grow here.
Happy Blooming Day!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Frances I wish I could be as specific as your are with your plants on cultivar names and such, but for the resident gardeners, "Oooh, it's pretty" is all that matters to them, until they see one doing better than the others then it's, "I wonder if there is a tag still on that?" They got lucky on the pink one next to 'Blue Boy'. They want another one of those.
MMGD you can enjoy mine for a spell.
Chuck, in our family we call them Rhodos. I don't know what southerners call them. The local mountain folk up here call the Laurel. No exfoliating bark, just a smooth gray brown bark and a basic shrub structure.
Les last year in June we drove to Highlands NC and my folks said this was the best they had ever seen the native Rhododendrons bloom EVER in that neck of the woods. It was quite a show.
Annie I almost didn't take a picture of the yellow Rhodo. Some how it seems odd to me, a bit of a freak. That is just me. Most people ooh and awe over it.
Like MMD and Annie, I have to admire from afar. Rhodos (or rhodies) don't do well in our alkaline soil. That doesn't keep the garden centers from selling them as "annual shrubs", as I call them.
Thanks for highlighting them for us for bloom day!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
You sure had a gorgeous Bloom Day! I can't seem to grow rhodie's or azelias here, even the "Northern Lights" azelias that are more hardy. Ah well, I can at least enjoy yours. :)
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