a worsening native azalea obsession

Native azaleas are becoming a bit of an obsession - although I keep forgetting their names (this one I got from Pete a few years ago, and it was missing it's tag and if I am remembering correctly, it was part of a group of native azaleas that he got from the Lowcountry Chapter of the South Carolina Native Plant Society).  I have good intentions:  yes, I tell myself to keep the tags or write down the names (and the dates purchased/planted) in a journal.  But honestly, it rarely happens.  I get caught up 'in the planting' and the 'viewing' and the truth is it's nice not to document it all.  I like watching plants grow.  I don't think this is the flame azalea (Rhododendron calendulaceum) - but maybe there are redder ones (with less orange).  I've had this azalea for three years now, and this is the first year that it has bloomed - and what a treat it is.   I'm now starting to eye some of the later blooming ones - the ones that bloom in mid-summer.  Here are some useful links (an abbreviated list) - that is, if you are so inclined to become obsessed with them as well:

• East Coast Native Azaleas
• Georgia Native Azaleas
• Fern Gully Nursery
• Azalea Society of America
• National Native Azalea Repository
• Dodd & Dodd Native Nurseries

Comments

[Carol]

Remember... if you don't know the name, especially if there was no tag and you couldn't know the name, you get to name the plant whatever you want!

[entangled]

I'm so happy you posted those native azalea links. I just discovered one blooming in the woods yesterday. The color on yours is just beautiful - the one I found is a pale pink . Hoping to post something about it later today.

[Pam]

Carol: Perfect!

Entangled: I just love them. They bloom over a nice range with respect to time (it surprised me really, I had assumed they were all early bloomers) - I'll definitely take a look at yours later today! (I have a few others - two of the white-flowering ones (Rhododendron alabamense) and then one of the Dodd hybrids, Admiral Semmes (with yellow flowers). I have alot of dappled shade under large trees, so great spots for them.

[The County Clerk]

Don't know if you know about Dave's Garden. Many think many things about this site (I gather from blog-comments that it is overtly Christian though I've seen that for myself).

Anyway... they have PLANT FILES and JOURNALS and they are linked. So one can identify a plant and then, with a click or two, put it in a journal (as anything: Interested, Growing, Dislike whatever).

I use it because as the years go by it is nice to go back and look at the plants I pegged as interesting. For example, the Aquilegia vulgaris 'Black Barlow'

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/65132/index.html

[Pam]

CC: I've never looked too closely at Dave's Garden. Honestly? I don't mind always not knowing, my list of interesting plants is crazy-long with just the ones that I CAN remember (imagine if I actually kept a list?) - and I like that my garden is a place where I don't control so much (like with work...it's the anti-workplace).