Friday Fabulous Flower - Christmas azalea

At about 1 foot tall and 1 foot wide there are a whole lot of flowers on this little shrub.  It was pruned back early last summer as it was moved out side for the summer into late fall (and fed some fertilizer for acid-loving plants).  It started flowering well before Christmas and now is at full bloom, a very long lived display.  This is an evergreen, non-hardy azalea, a very cheerful winter flowering plant.  Ours does get nice bright light and a bit cool at night.  Most people discard these plants after they flower but TPP saved one, put it outside for the summer, and was rewarded by quite a long and massive flowering during the winter such that it became known as our Christmas azalea.  

Seduced by a tart

At times a man just can't help himself, and this is no prelude to an admission of extra marital affairs, illicit interactions with students, or inappropriate pictures on the internet. No, this was just having my head turned by what must be called a painted lady, in this case an azalea whose name is a bit tartish in a Victorian sort of way, "Hilda Niblet". How could this plant not have a female name? Unfortunately she's a bit too delicate for our climate and struggles mightily in one location and languishes in another, which is too bad because a low-growing azalea is ideal in both locations. For a smallish shrub, Hilda has big pinky-blushy flowers, but she only managed a single bloom this year, and that came 5 weeks later than last year. Given the snow cover this past winter and its general mild nature, Hilda's reaction is a bit puzzling, but she'll get another chance next year.

A peek at my garden

The thing about gardens is that different spots in the garden have different looks at different times of the year, sometimes little spots have their day at the top of the garden glamor hit parade. One particular display involves a spicy-lights azalea set among spruce trees in a large bed of hosta that runs along the sidewalk. Last year the Phactor witnessed a near rear end accident as a motorist, clearly a garden-lover, although an iffy driver, braked suddenly to get a better look. For about a week this light orange azalea at about 7 feet tall brightens up the dark green space in which it resides quietly for the other 51 weeks of the year. Soon it will have a couple of slightly later flowering golden-lights companions, but they will take them another couple of years to gain some size.