Bringing a lot of colour to a couple of borders are the rhododendrons and azaleas which are flowering at the moment. Some started flowering about a month ago and had nearly finished before the main ones started, so flowering is spread over 2 months, which I feel is better than having them all flowering at the same time, because then they are over so quickly. A few were already here when we moved in, the rest I have planted as the years have gone by.
Small Japanese Azalea.
Azalea R. luteum, the perfume is divine!
I know some of you don’t like rhododendrons, but if you have an acid soil with a good amount of semi shade, you might as well go with the flow and enjoy the display that they put on during May and June.
I can definitely say that the garden here would be a much less colourful place without them and the perfume that the deciduous azaleas puts out, makes the garden a very special place to be at this time of year.
Lovely photos of your rhodo and azaleas. They provide so much colour and scent at this time of year. Seeing them always reminds me of visiting South West England in May.
Thank you Wendy, they do make a beautiful splash of colour at this time of year. The first time I visited Cornwall’s gardens when we moved here, was amazing, a real eye opener.
Thanks for this, I adore rhodedendrons and hubby and I have loads of them. I’ve never seen a yellow one before – that is a rhodi, isn’t it? I must do a post with ours some time, I keep meaning to. And do you know what? I only learnt today that they need deadheading! So hubby’s been doing that most of the afternoon, poor guy!
The yellow one is a deciduous Azalea, but then they are from the same family Val. I do deadhead mine as firstly, they look so much better without their brown flowers and secondly, so that they don’t waste energy making seeds. I Tend to do one at a time, it would be too boring doing them all at once!
I can’t grow them, but can get vicarious pleasure from photos of yours!! Such a long flowering period too – you can’t ask for more than 2 months of colour!
We’re lucky with our soil, we are just the acid side of neutral so can grow most plants, even ones that like alkaline soil! They do make a colourful show in the garden, but I try not to plant colours together that would clash.
I love these plants, as you say they do brighten up the garden. You have some lovely varieties, just goes to show how different they can be.xxx
There are so many different sorts Dina, some have the most amazing foliage so they’re not just floral plants, but I think for most people they buy them for the flowers.
Thank you Pauline – they are beautiful !
Thanks Rosemarie, as the years go by, they just get better and better without much effort from me.
Lovely post. I adore rhododendrons and azaleas. The yellow luteum does have the most amazing scent, especially at night.
The Azalea with the yellow and white flowers has perfume much the same as “luteum”, but the azalea with deep pink round flowers has a very different perfume, but just as lovely.
These lovely plants are the stars of the late May, early June garden. People who say they don’ t like them are probably jealous because they can’ t grow them. I wish I could; I have to be content with one or two in pots. I would love to look round your beautiful garden, the photos are wonderful- so much colour!
They do make a lovely splash of welcome colour Chloris, at this time of year. We are lucky where we live in that most gardens can grow rhodos here, so all the gardens are looking very pretty at the moment.
I’m one of those people who say they don’t like rhododendrons, but I think that is because they are often planted so badly, many people seem to loose all sense of design and colour when they plant them. The individual flowers are stunningly beautiful and the scent is lovely. I loved then when I saw them at Helligan where they must look much as they would in their natural habitat. Yours look perfect, so I think I must stop saying I don’t like them, it is unfair to the plant when it is the gardeners’ fault! your photographs are stunning today Pauline, do you have a new camera or maybe it was just the light.
I do try not to plant a clash of colours Christina, it must be the artist in me! Thank you for your kind comments about the photos, but no, same camera as usual. The rhodos are all in semi or full shade, so they are taken without any sunshine to bleach out the colours, some of them were taken when I was up at 5.30am when the sun is still low in the sky!
What a wonderful selection and so well showcased, the colour they bring to your garden is inspiring. I think they add a touch of timeless glamour to a garden. I considereed using dwarf azaleas as an underplanting to a bamboo hedge, having seen a fabulous magazine image of the combination, but I couldn’t figure out whether the azaleas would really cope with the competition.
I feel the Rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs fill a gap Kate, after the spring bulbs have all died down and the summer perennials are just starting to flower, they certainly make the garden very colourful at the moment. I also don’t know if dwarf azaleas would cope with your bamboo hedge, all rhodos seem to have a very shallow root system, it depends what the roots of your bamboos are like, are they spreaders or clump formers?
I freely admit that I love them (growing up in Scotland, you’d have to!) But they definitely wouldn’t do here. I have a small blue azalea in a pot that I’m seriously thinking of planting out because it’s becoming badly shaped. But I don’t know if I can subject it to my soil! Lovely to see yours and the garden looking so glorious with them. Thanks!
Yes Cathy, I can imagine all the wonderful rhodos you grew up with, what a shame your soil isn’t suitable now. I do hope your blue azalea survives, I wonder if it is the same one that I saw in a friends garden recently, I would love to find a blue one for here, do you know it’s name?
A wonderful display Pauline. Rhododendrons and azaleas, especially in numbers, make a real difference at this time of year.
I agree Denise that they are the stars of May/June! Are they hardy enough for you to grow some?
I have to be a little bit careful as some are not quite hardy enough but there are more than enough that are hardy to make a good display. I do find though that they are fairly expensive to buy here. Two years ago I bought 20 dwarf rhododendrons from Edrom Nurseries and so far they have all survived but it will be years before they are big enough to give a good display! Still I will enjoy watching them grow…..
That is fantastic, you have bought 20! They are going to look wonderful in a few years time, I hope we will eventually see some photos of them, when they have grown a bit.
Great photographs Pauline. Your azaleas and rhododendrons are a fine addition to your already fabulous garden. I used to have azaleas at my former house and loved them, but sadly the conditions are not right at my current one.
What a shame Susie that you can’t grow them where you are now. I think I must have always lived in areas with acid soil, on the west side of the country, as I’ve always had rhodos and azaleas somewhere near, if not in the garden themselves. I would miss them if I moved further east where it is more chalk.
Thanks for this, I don’t grow Azaleas but admire those grown by others. I particularly like the yellow ones, that’s an unusual color for Azaleas, isn’t it?
The yellow azaleas seem to have the strongest perfume Jason, mine are planted near sitting areas. I think R. luteum is a species, which must have been the parent of many of the hybrids with the colour yellow.
What glorious photos Pauline – all your blooms jumped off the screen at me! As you say with so many you have a longer growing season. The soil here is fairly neutral and my relatively small number have established OK and generally flower well, although strangely 3 I have had for a few years have all flowered for the first time this year
We are just the acid side of neutral Cathy, so lots of plants are very happy, even ones that like alkaline soil! Maybe your 3 rhodos were making a good root system before flowering this year, hopefully they will flower each year from now on.
Your rhododendrons and azaleas are wonderful! How fortunate they bloom over such a long time. I have been planting deciduous azaleas over the last couple of years. I love their sweet fragrance as much as their gorgeous colors. I am trying to plant different varieties to give me an extended bloom time. While many azaleas will grow here, most rhodies don’t do well in my climate. I have a few, and they have not yet fulfilled their potential.
Thanks Deb, they do make a lovely burst of colour at this time of year. I agree that the azaleas have such a lovely perfume, they really are a delight. Is it your winters that the evergreen rhodos don’t like or the hot summers you have?
You have some glorious rhododendrons and azaleas and you make a very good point, if you have the soil and exposure that they enjoy, you should go with the flow! Why not have beautiful things that grow easily? I enjoy them very much!
Going with the flow is so much easier Peter, than growing tricky plants that aren’t happy! I’m all for letting the plants do their own thing while I sit back and enjoy it all!
As you know I’ve chopped back and shifted all mine over the course of the last year and I must admit, I’m missing the colours. Miraculously though, a couple of the azaleas bloomed even in spite of my treatment and I’m enjoying them far more in their new position, where I am glimpsing them through trees. There’s a shocking pink one though that I’m afraid will be going. It does rather clash with the others!
Rhodos and Azaleas do respond to rough treatment Jessica, they are very forgiving plants. I think in amongst trees is the best place for them, with lots of green to offset all the colours, could the shocking pink one not be moved too, away from any colour clashes?