Azaleas are a signature plant in the south. From Augusta National to what seems like 100 percent of landscapes of older stately homes - azaleas are prominent in spring. An extremely large variety of azalea species, hybrids and cultivars are available. Most can trace their family tree back to the Orient. Among the standard variety blooming once a year around Easter - I like the 'Hershy Red' and 'Delaware Valley White'. There is also available a low growing, late blooming variety - the 'Gumpo' azalea. By far my favorite, however, is the newly released Encore™ series of azaleas. They offer blooms twice a year, in the spring and again in the fall.
"Despite the great possibilities for failure, the burdensome work, and the lack of glamour, my hobby became a passion. Even with successes, it didn't take me long to realize that growing roses would be more fun if it entailed less work."- William Radler, breeder/inventor of the Kockout Rose. You plant this rose just as you do most shrubs and you get beautiful blooms from spring until frost. Very little maintenance is required.
Sometimes referred to as Christmas Camellias, the sasanqua varieties of Camellia are native to the evergreen, coastal forests of southern Japan. It was introduced by Dutch traders into Europe in 1869. Yuletide is a chance seedling of Kanjiro and originated at Nuccio's Nurseries in Altadena, CA. The Japanese use the leaves of sasanqua to make tea, and the seeds are pressed into tea seed oil for use as a lubricant and in cooking and cosmetics.
This variety of the Camellia Sasanqua as well as many others are good choices for a large bed around a tree or even as a hedge. It is also an excellent choice if you want an Espalier.
I actually like ALL Camellia Japonica's. They have lustrous dark green leaves and can be used in many situations. They can be a speciman plant in the center of a bed, they can be a hedge or even a stand alone planting. Camellias prefers acidic, highly organic soils. I like to mix in pine bark mulch when planting. You should maintain a good mulch bed because of shallow rooting. Mature size can be 10 ft. wide and 15- 20 ft tall, but also easy to keep the size you want with twice a year pruning. This Governor Mouton variety has 3-5" flowers and semidouble to loose peony form flowers are red with white splotches.
“…really packs a wallop...specimens are vigorous yet compact, colorful to a fault, do not bleach in the sun, and catch visitors’ eyes.”– Dr. Michael Dirr, University of Georgia
The Rhodo typically has larger leaves, larger blooms, a less compact shape and blooms later in the spring.
The Rhododendron catawbiense I like because it is fairly easy to grow in our climate. This variety comes in many different vibrant colors.
- Spireas (Spiraea species) are among the easiest flowering shrubs to grow. There are two distinct kinds of spireas: the bridal wreath type, with clusters of white flowers on arching branches in spring; and the shrubby, much lower-growing type, which has pink, red or white flowers clustered at the end of upright branches in summer to fall. The Gold Mound is a low mounded shrub with pink flowers. 3ft high by 5 ft wide is the normal mature size. Yellow-green foiliage in summer. Recurrent summer flowering.
