Native Azaleas (Rhododendron
spp.)are flowering shrubs that are found
in the woodlands on the East Coast of the USA. They do best in light, dappled
sunlight.
One of the most striking characteristics of native azaleas
is their strong, sweet fragrance, which is often compared to that of
honeysuckles. The flowers also resemble clusters of honeysuckle blossoms.
Hence, the common name for native azaleas of Wild Honeysuckle.
Native azaleas are deciduous—dropping their leaves in the fall.
While the Japanese and Korean azaleas are mainly evergreen as are most of their
hybrids. Native azaleas prefer moist, well-drained, acidic soil that is high in
organic matter.
The Piedmont azalea (Rhododendron
canescens) or the Southern pinxter azalea is native from the Carolinas
south to Florida and west to east Texas. The flowers are shades of white, pink,
and red. It can grow to 10 feet wide and high and has an airy, open growing
habit. It is hardy to USDA zones 5-9.
The Pinxterbloom azalea (Rhododendron
periclymenoides) is similar to the Piedmont azalea, but thrives in a more
northern native range from Massachusetts to north Georgia and over to
Tennessee. It is hardy to USDA zones 4-8 and grows to 5 feet tall and wide.
The Florida flame azalea (Rhododendron austrinum) is native to northern Florida and other far
southern states. It grows to 8 to 10 feet tall and has yellow, orange, red, or
pink blooms. It's hardy to USDA Zones 6 to 9.
The Alabama azalea (Rhododendron
alabamense) is native to Alabama and Georgia. It grows 5 to 6 feet tall. It
has blossoms that are white with yellow blotches. It is hardy to USDA Zones 7
to 9.
The Sweet azalea (Rhododendron
arborescens)can grow to 10-20 feet
tall. It is native to the Appalachians from Pennsylvania to Alabama, It has white
blossoms with red stamens. It is hardy to USDA Zones 4 to 7.
Native birds (especially hummingbirds),
bees, butterflies, and other wildlife are attracted to these shrubs and
their amazing flowers.
Native Azaleas: You Can Grow That!
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My favorite flower colors are shades of purple and green. I especially love it when those two colors are combined in one bloom. Here are a few examples from my garden:
Clematis ‘Taiga’
Hardy Hibiscus ‘French Cabaret Purple’
Rose 'The Bishop'
Bearded Iris - variety unknown
Campanula - variety unknown
Datura Hybrid 'Double Purple'
What are your favorite flower colors?
This post is part of the #GardenBloggersChallenge sponsored by Gardencomm for the month of May. You are invited to join in and can see more details at https://info.gardencomm.org/
"I think we should fight back against this caustic language. Instead of calling lush landscapes ‘overgrown,’ how about we call barren lawns ‘undergrown’?”
In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Mike Lizotte of American Meadows about Reduce Your Lawn Day and planting mini meadows. The plant profile is on Hosta and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events and this week's garden tasks in the What's New segment. We close out with the Last Word on Cultivating Comfort from Christy Page of Green Prints.
If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:
~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 130: Groundcovers versus Groundcovers
SHOW NOTES:
00:57 Welcome Mike Lizotte of American Meadows
01:19 Lizotte’s gardening backstory
02:33 How Lizotte learned about meadows from seed packing
03:47 How Lizotte got in the business of giving advice about meadows
05:40 The start of Lizotte’s involvement with the business side of American Meadows
07:17 Buying from American Meadows overseas?
08:12 Vermont, Lizotte’s home base
09:33 Vermont’s soil and rocks
10:49 Gardening with short seasons
12:09 Lizotte’s home garden
13:37 Lizotte’s book, Mini Meadows
15:11 GardenComm connrection, Rob Cardillo, and garden photography
17:01 “I'll never forget when Carlene, who was my publisher at Storey, kind of sent me this first, like draft or first glimpse, which included Rob's photography,” said Lizotte. “I think I almost started crying.”
18:09 What is Reduce Your Lawn Day?
20:33 “The consumer right now has never been more in tune with the environment and wanting to do something good,” says Lizotte.
22:50 How you can participate through the website: ReduceYourLawnDay.com hosted by American Meadows
24:50 How to go about reducing: start small
26:11 “When people do start small and they expand, they tend to have a little more of a successful journey,” says Lizotte.
27:26 How do you remove turf?
29:08 According to Lizotte, planning and preparing “really comes down to what might work best for you in the size of the area that you have.”
30:20 Pollinator lawns
32:09 Choosing seed mixes
34:36 Mixed planting versus monoculture
36:22 Choosing a mix of plants to have blooms all year long
38:23 Shade mixes and shade options
40:13 Wildflower mixes and pre-planned gardens
42:38 Deer-resistant plants and mixes
43:56 Deer problems due to lack of nutrients available to deer
45:21 Plants for water situations: too much, or too little
47:15 Maintenance: the key is to know ahead of time what your plants need
49:20 Cutting back your meadow annually
50:26 Burning versus cut-back
52:03 Find American Meadows at americanmeadows.com and Mike Lizotte on Facebook and Instagram
53:15 Mini meadows versus the HOA
54:31 Plant Profile: Hosta
56:51 What’s new in the garden? Dogwoods, Japanese snowbells, and strawberries
57:58 On May 25th, Saturday, there are guided forest bathing walks at 9:30 AM at Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens, pay the fee and register at hillwoodmuseum.org on that same day. The Baltimore Herb Festival is at Lincoln Park from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM, register at baltimoreherbfestival.com. Tuesday, May 28th, The Trees of Ladew Walk is happening at 9:30 AM at Ladew Gardens in Monkton, register at ladewgardens.com
59:40 Groundcover Revolution by Kathy Jentz
1:01:09 The Urban Garden by Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight
1:02:04 The Last Word on cultivating comfort in your garden with Christy Page and Amanda MacArthur.
1:04:18 Pumpkins as comfort food
1:06:11 “Cultivating a garden full of comfort vegetables isn't just about the harvest”, says MacArthur, “it's about saving the savoring, the journey, connecting with nature and nourishing both body and soul.”
And be sure to leave us a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform plus share us on social media with #GardenDC, so other gardeners can find us too!
Episode Credits:
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Show Notes: Alexandra Jentz
Throughout the spring semester as an editorial intern at
the Washington Gardener Magazine, I had the pleasure of learning how to plant,
monitor, care for, and harvest radishes and carrots.
My experience in gardening was little to none prior to
being an intern with this publication, but I got to witness the wonderful
growth of my plants, albeit small. Due to tricky weather, I initially planted
them a little later than expected. The seeds are planted are Carrot 'St.
Valery' and Radish 'Japanese Wasabi' -- both from Baker
Creek Heirloom Seeds.
I first planted seeds in their respective spaces in the
plot on March 25th:
The left side of the divide are the radishes, and on the
right are the carrots. I placed more than a few seeds an inch or so apart, in
case a few of them failed to sprout.
By April 8th, I found that the radishes and carrots were
beginning to sprout! However, along with them were Yarrow plants that began to
creep into the planting beds from the plot's borders. I removed the encroaching
Yarrow and also thinned both tiny seedling crops — as it turned out, there were
many more effective seeds than I had originally anticipated.
From then until the end of the month, I did the
occasional check-in, which mostly involved watering, thinning, and weeding.
During that time frame, the weather seemingly flipped between being rainy and
sweltering hot.
When I visited the plot a month later on May 6th, I
witnessed great growth — the radish tops were healthy and green -- and the
carrot greens made their gradual slow appearance.
I noticed that the growth near the bottom end of the plot
—where the yarrow weeds once were— was significantly less than the plot’s top
end. Baby radishes began to form and were harvestable by the time our semester
ended.
What are you growing in your edible garden this week?
About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 13th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).
About the Author: Hannah Zozobrado was an editorial intern with Washington Gardener Magazine during the Spring 2024 semester.
