Wayside Gardens Voices

Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and The Masters Tournament

This past weekend the Masters Tournament, with the players, the media, celebrities, and legions of fans, converged on Augusta National, which happens to be less than an hour from our location here in Greenwood, SC. We experience a good bit of over-flow in our local hotels and restaurants every year, many people looking to avoid the crowds in Augusta. I am pretty sure Kevin Costner was behind me at a red-light last year.

Many of the travelers will visit our trial gardens while they are in town, and it really is the perfect time of year to stop by. All of our trees and shrubs are blooming and budding new leaves, and the weather is (other than the occasional shower) a perfect 72F, sunny and breezy. It's a nice place to picnic or simply spend an afternoon browsing through our garden center if you happen to be in town.

I heard that the azaleas and rhododendrons looked really nice this year at Augusta National, and I was inspired to go out this morning and take a few pictures of the ones growing right outside our window to share with you (pictured above). There are also a few magnolias, dogwoods, and Japanese maples that are really starting to look nice. The fruits, vegetables, and annuals will start to fill out the rest of the garden in the next few weeks.

Azaleas: So Easy, You Probably Don't Need These Tips

Around here many of us tend to think of Azaleas as a feature primarily of Southern gardens.  Maybe that's because Azaleas are so closely associated with the Masters Golf Tournament (which is played just sixty miles from our Greenwood, South Carolina home), or it could be that many Southerners occasionally assume that anything that they really like must come from the South.  Either way, one thing that I can tell you for sure is that hardy Azaleas are becoming a more and more popular choice outside of the Deep South, and for good reason.  They're the perfect low-maintenance flowering shrub for just about any part-shade area that isn't exposed to harsh winds.  They flower heavily for weeks, usually only need one deep watering a week in drought, and require no pruning to flower.  Many are evergreen, and some, such as the Azalea 'Golden Lights,' thrive all the way to zone 4.

Plant your Azalea bushes shallow.  Their root structures are shallow, and they won't do well too deep.  A good rule of thumb is to just plant them to the same depth as the nursery had them.  They like loose, well-drained soil, so if you're planting them in clay or hard-pack, dig some of that up and add compost, peat, or sand to the soil.  Because the roots are shallow, give them some room without competition.  Azaleas prefer acidic soil, so if your soil is neutral or alkaline, you would do well to add a bit of sulfer to it to bring that pH up (you're looking for a little over 4.5).  Also, if you're planting them next to a lot of cement, keep an eye on your pH from time to time, as the cement breaking down can add lime to the soil.  Azaleas do best with mulch down to protect them from the cold in winter and to retain some moisture in the summer.  Around here pine straw is the most common mulch used with Azaleas.  It provides great protection, it's inexpensive, it looks natural, and it breaks down enough that it will usually do all the fertilizing that your Azalea bushes need.  You shouldn't need to prune your Azaleas except to shape it to your liking or if it happens to get a dead branch, but if you do prune it do so in the middle or late summer, after the shrub is done flowering.  July is probably best for most areas.  Do not prune later than the end of July unless you have to, as once the weather starts to cool the shrub starts producing its buds for next year's flowers. 

Evergreen Shrubs Keep Gardens Beautiful

For a lasting impression and year-round interest try evergreen shrubs. We are all familiar with hollies and boxwoods, the classic short hedges, the ones that reliably maintain there deep colors all year long. The reliability of evergreens is great for landscaping because it reduces the amount of maintenance required to keep an aesthetically pleasing garden.

If you want something a little more interesting than the monochromatic boxwood, opt for a plant that flowers and produces fruit. For instance, hollies periodically produce those lovely red berries (which also attract birds). Gardenias and Rhododendrons produce large fragrant blooms, and provide a little more interest than your standard evergreen.

If you want an evergreen shrub that has interesting architecture, try a juniper. Junipers are amazingly hardy and their habit varies tremendously from one cultivar to the next. Juniperus 'Skyrocket' grows 15 feet straight in the air not getting any wider than 18 inches. In this area there is a common ground covers varieity. They are a related to cypress but are generally much shorted and have very interesting, gnarled trunks and a fairly unpredictable habit.

Azalea info from GardenerHelp.org

I've been getting a few emails asking about care information for azaleas, and thought I would share the information from the Wayside Gardens culture files. If you would like to browse through these, just take a look at GardenerHelp.org. All of the horticulture notes and articles available to the Wayside Gardens customer service team are online. It is easier for them to access from their work stations, and it can also be a nice trove of gardening info for anyone else who might stumble upon it.

The following information was copied from GardenerHelp.org

PLANTING: Plant deciduous Azaleas in spring or fall; evergreens at any time except during extremely hot, dry weather and when ground is frozen. Loose, well drained soil enriched with organic matter preferred. Improve drainage of heavy, clay soil with coarse sand and compost, peat, or leaf mold. An acid pH, 4.5-6.0, required. Add sulfur or ferrous sulfate to acidify neutral or alkaline soil. Place these shrubs in a part shade situation, protected from harsh winds, 3-5 feet apart. The species Azaleas may need 6-8 feet between plants. Take care to set plants at same depth as they were grown in nursery - DO NOT PLANT TOO DEEP!!!

MAINTENANCE: Water deeply once a week when there is no or little rainfall. Do not cultivate near plants as Azaleas are shallow rooted. A 2-3 inch mulch of pine needles, oak leaves, or ground corn cobs will help preserve moisture and discourage weeds. In poor soil, or if mulch is not already partially decayed, apply Azalea fertilizer before new growth appears in spring. Little pruning necessary other than to remove dead or badly placed branches. New shoots may be pinched to encourage bushiness. Provide mulch for winter protection. Propagate by grafting cuttings in late summer, layering during growing season, and species by seed.

NOTES: Use these shrubs for background in flower beds or borders in shrub borders or in woodland settings. When using in foundation plantings where lime may be introduced into the soil (by the breakdown of cement, etc.), be sure that the pH stays within the proper range.

(Cont. Azalea Info)

Flowering Shrubs and Trees, Can't wait until spring?

Winter's icy mitts still have a stranglehold on most of the country, and countless gardeners are tapping their feet and wearing out their gardening catalogs. So, for those of you itching to get some green on your hands, here's a little late-winter project that will brighten your home from Wayside Gardens.

You are going to have to prune your trees anyway, so why not clip off a few nice branches with some plump buds and bring them in the house. You can force these branches to bloom and bring a little springtime ambiance into the abysmal botanical breach of winter.

This is a simple little project that anyone can do, at least that's what the Wayside Gardens Horticulturist said. After your blooming trees have had time to overcome dormancy, usually around 8 weeks of winter weather, cut off a few branches that are a good length for displaying indoors, a foot or more. Make sure you get pieces with plenty of buds, and you will know when it's time to cut them because the buds will have started to swell. Make sure you cut the ends at a slight angle to ensure your branches will take up water.

As soon as you get them inside, put the ends in some water, and, if possible, submerge the whole branches overnight in a tub or sink to further force them out of dormancy. For the first few days keep the ends in a bucket of water in a cool place like a garage and make sure to keep misting the branches, keeping them covered with light plastic or burlap to maintain high levels of moisture. Change your water if it starts to look cloudy to prevent your branches from rotting.

After a week or so, when your flower buds are starting to bloom and show color, you should go ahead and set them out for display. Do not put them in full sunlight or a really warm area because they may dry up and you will lose your blossoms. Put them in a bright area and make sure they stay in a container with clean water, and they should last for a while. Moving them to a cooler place at night will also prolong their lifespan.

A list of shrubs and trees that you might want to try this with:
Magnolia, Hazel, Apple, Cherry, Pear, Wisteria, Puince, Forsythia, mockorange, and etc.

John Durst
Wayside Gardens Voice
jdurst@parkseed.com

Rhododendrons in the Highlands

Kay, you would love the Highlands. If you could hire a car and trust David to drive on the left (no small problem for American tourists in Scotland!), you could make a sweeping tour of some of the best public gardens along the A83 -- Stonefield Castle, Kilmory, Ardkinglas, Crarae. Up there you see some of the finest large leafed Rhododendrons. The cool, misty climate obviously reminds them of home, and they grow out of all proportion. Lovely for a public garden, and you can even be envious because they wouldn't fit in the home garden anyway!

One summer we need to swop houses. I'll bake at the Isle of Palms for a few weeks and you and David can rough it at the parental unit's crumbling Highlands pile!

Tamsin Guthrie

TamsinGuthrie@gmail.com

Azalea/Rhododendron question for Tamsin and Ebbett

Good morning, weekend warriors!

Now as a gardener myself, I am fascinated by your discussion of the distinction between Azaleas and Rhododendrons. I have a terrible confession to make: when I moved down here from Long Island, I thought I would no longer be growing Rhodies, but would discover the wonders of Azaleas instead! And I acted on that premise in choosing my first shrubs. My local nurseryman always makes a distinction -- just what you said about people thinking Azaleas are easier to grow, Tamsin. I remember him saying once, when I talked about missing one of my Rhodies, that he never "fooled" with Rhododendrons.

Oh dear. Now I wonder if he was just playing along with my ignorance. It's terrible to be embarrassed years after the fact!

But on to brighter things. Tamsin, do tell us more about your trip home to the Highlands. Did you visit public gardens, or is the area simply a home gardener's mecca for Rhododendrons?

Sincerely,

Kay Ravenel

Product Administration

KayRavenel@gmail.com

Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and Azaleodendrons

Eb, I think you have uncovered the real meaning of the word "blog" -- weblog my left foot, it stands for BACKLOG. I'm here doing mine now, instead of being outdoors on this fine gardening day!

The sad truth is that we will probably live to see the day when the Azaleas finally become reclassified, every last one of them, and that is the day we turn off the phones and go hoist a few at 9:00 in the morning. Until then, we have to soldier on with:

All Azaleas are Rhododendrons, etc.

Linnaeus improperly classified them separately. However, he was in good company; before his day, a Rhododendron was what we now call an Oleander! (The name means Red Tree, so one can see how it came about.)

Azaleas and Rhododendrons have been interbred since the first plants were scooped out of the dirt, and for a while these "crossbreeds" were even referred to by some ghastly name -- Azaleodendrons or the like.

The old rule of thumb used to be that azaleas are deciduous and rhododendrons evergreen, but if that was ever true, it isn't anymore.

There are horticultural differences to be noted, but for the home gardener they aren't significant. They include differences in flower shape and stamen count, but for every 5 cultivars you find that follow the rules, one is lurking in the background to break them, so I don't know how useful they are for any of us.

There is the idea that azaleas are easier to care for than rhodies, but I've never thought this was really true. Now, a native species will certainly be less trouble in nearly every case, but any sort of hybrid brings with it countless generations of crosses and all sorts of mysterious relations.

Does this help? No, probably not. Sorry!

Cheers,

Tamsin

TamsinGuthrie@gmail.com

The old Azalea vs. Rhododendron debate

Hello, Tamsin! I'm in here this morning catching up on my backlog of e-mail and g-mail and blog work, and I saw your fascinating piece on our azaleas and rhododendrons. This will be very helpful to all of us in talking with customers, but I have an even simpler (and yet devilishly difficult) question for you:

What do you say when customers ask the difference between azaleas and rhododendrons?

I know the horticulture, but they don't really want to hear that -- they want to know which one they should grow, and how they're different. Do you have a simple answer to that? I always go into the "all azaleas are rhododendrons but not all rhododendrons are azaleas" bit, followed by a brief something about interbreeding. But it always seems feeble. Got a down-and-dirty response that gets the message across?

Wayside's Azaleas and Rhododendrons

Eb, you know me only too well. And as I've just returned from a busman's holiday in the Highlands, where I daresay more Rhododendron and Azalea hybrids are concentrated in less space than anywhere else in the world, these shrubs have been much in my thoughts. We have some really exciting new cultivars for spring at Wayside, but you don't want to hear about those yet. (Let me just tantalise you with the thought that one of them comes from Finland! Oh and Kay, we finally have another Yak for you!) You want to know what to recommend to customers. Or perhaps you don't, but too late, I'm on a tear now.

The Encores are on everyone's list these days, and why not? They are fantastic houseplants, sending out blooms almost every month of the year if kept indoors properly. (Speaking of Scots, this year-round bloom business reminds me of Miss Walker of Drumsheugh. She felt about plants the way her fellow Victorians seemed to feel about children: why stop at just one or two if you can have a dozen? Now, Rhododendrons were streaming into Britain at this time, so Miss Walker could have stocked her considerable garden with many, many more. But she "restrained" herself to about 50, choosing them carefully to assure herself of having at least one in bloom every month of the year! This was in 1860, no less, and here we are nearly 150 years later, still limiting our gardens to spring bloomers with the occasional fall rebloomer! --Of course, Miss Walker had a few pennies to rub together, and a lovely conservatory, and plenty of staff, and leisure time -- all those perks of a bygone age!)

But back to modern times. The Encores are absolutely priceless for gardeners who can't bear to see the end of those spring blooms: they should grow several indoors for yearround beauty and more in the garden, where they send out a few summer blossoms and then fully bloom again in autumn.

Beyond the Encores, we carry a good line of many of the major groups: the Exburys, Leaches, Robin Hills, and even a Tony Shammarello and a bonsai Satsuki. For customers looking for cold-hardiness, Golden Lights is absolutely the best. It's hardy into zone 4, and was bred in Minnesota, so you can imagine it's felt a chill or two. This Azalea is one of the many bred from Northern Lights, and we chose it because it's easily the most mildew-resistant and among the most fragrant. Now, the Robin Hill Hybrids are good for the north too because they bloom much later than others. Betty Anne Voss is a big favorite because the blooms are large and double, and the habit is semi-weeping. But my personal favorite will always be Hilda Niblett. There's something about that ground-hugging habit just covered in big peach and white blooms that does it for me.

For customers with the opposite problem -- too much heat, with its attendant evil of mildew -- the classic Exbury Gibraltar is the best choice through zone 8. And Betty Anne Voss goes into zone 9 with great vigour. Yaku Princess, a Tony Shammarello hybrid, is simply one of the hardiest Rhododendrons of all, and its densely set, evergreen habit is a year-round pleasure. I would recommend it for north and south alike, including "difficult" climates where other cultivars may not have been successful.

For customers looking for a longer season of bloom, aside from the Encores, the David Leach hybrids are to be recommended. Everything about these cultivars is top drawer, from flower size to hardiness to colour -- look at the colour of Trinidad! And Capistrano is the clearest, purest yellow in the entire family, I believe. These are rugged shrubs bred by perhaps the best modern Rhododendron plantsman of all. (I mustn't shun those intrepid Victorian plant-hunters!)

And finally there is the Satsuki bonsai. Customers might not know that the Satsuki Hybrids, a huge and wildly divergent group, are among the most popular in Japan, and many of the newer Azalea groups were bred to imitate the excellent merits of the Satsuki. This bonsai is really exceptional in bloom strength -- just stop by the Internet room and look at Alice's if in doubt! I don't think it's been out of bud since spring, and it flowered all summer. Let's see if it's taking a rest -- it's got to pause at some point to get ready for its lush midwinter season!

And now I must close. These Friday ramblings of mine are quite out of hand.

Cheers,

Tamsin

TamsinGuthrie@gmail.com