Gardening and Landscaping

[Wildbilly]

That warm streak we had in Jan. & Feb. caused a lot of damage here, I lost 2 knockout rose bushes plus suffered winter kill to my favorite thing, this funny little azalea. I gave this to my wife 23 years ago as a centerpiece for her Easter table, a cheapie from Krogers I grabbed on the fly lol. It came in a cheap plastic pot with some pink & green Easter foil stuffed in, it was finito 3 weeks after Easter and I wanted to trash it, but she insisted on setting it out and see if it would come back, 'no way says the master gardener , but knock yourself out ha!' Those aren't blooms, but the first leaves which are pushed out after no more than a week by the regular leaves. It usually is the very first color of the spring by far, earlier than Red Bud even. This pic was today, WAYyyyy late, not as vivid and with some lateral branch loss. I mean, 23 years old and it's only chest high as it is and as you can see, it's more tree than bush. Definitely not what you think of as azalea bushes which almost turn invasive with time. I wish I could figure out what it is, definitely should not be growing in this zone, I think being by the fence has saved it. The bare spots in the pic are also normally a peonie bed with just the tips visible of the few left to the left among irises.

Gardens look like crap this year.





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