Azaleas are dull. They are boring plants that quite frankly do very little for the aesthetics of the landscape, until they flower. When they flower, my god do they put on a show! They get these terminal clusters of flowers (terminal simply means that the flowers only form on the end of the branch, or the growth tip. They dont form anywhere along the stem) and are very showey. Particularly when they are quite large shrubs. Be warned though, azaleas can be fuss pots to grow. I heard a statistic that 90% of all azaleas bought will die within the first 12 months. How true this is, I dont know, but it honestly wouldnt surprise me if it turned out to be true. The biggest problem is people never really read the tag. They like slightly acidic soil. Hate being wet, like being a little damp. Love PART shade (so under dappled trees and such), not full sun as so many people are want to do. They have a very shallow root system, so mulching them is your best option. Then theres the mites, they go silver all the bloody time as mites love them. We've been trying out a new Confidor Tablet this year, that you plonk in around the root zone and the plant absorbs it as it dissolves. The slang at present is we've put the azaleas on the pill. Get many funny looks for that one, I promise you.
No comments:
Post a Comment