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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (49871)	5/2/2000 12:26:00 PM
From: Gauguin	Respond to of 71178

I agree with your observations re the social stratification of azaleas. We have precisely that here. In the older neighborhoods of the east side, they are magnificent; gaudy and raucous even; but are often precisely pruned and shaped mature darlings. Lot's of fun, they are. I should go shoot.....hmmm.... But there is also the admixture of rhodies, often too big for those lots, to them and west side lots; and some are so giant as to seem absurd. Granddaddy's approaching 100 years, perfectly kept. Hmmm....I should go shoot.... I'd love planting tips, and variety suggestions, but of course the climate here is very different. We've got the traditional four seasons, snow in winter, rain in spring, hot in summer, dry in autumn, and lots and lots of sunlight. Tip #1: Go LOOK and NOTE names, right now. Familiarize with who has what. Then go back and buy and plant in Fall. The rest is all localized to your area. The best varieties, most successful and often most beautiful, will have become standardized, for good reason. We can gro any here, and most won't survive there. I used to know some for back East, but that was ages ago. But be sure to go see them in bloom, and just say thank you, and go back in Fall. This is a very prudent and high-success approach to getting them thru their first year. They'd rather winter than summer, freshly moved. Porus aeration is probably the most important thing. They like air and water. (In the root area.) Just find out "Who has the most rhodies?," and you're on your way. Van Veen ships a shipload of excellent plants east. (They're in a town called Monitor, I believe, in Oregon.) You could even call them and see who they ship to in DC. Tell them we're sleeping together. Okay? I'd like that.

To: Ilaine who wrote (49871)	5/2/2000 12:39:00 PM
From: Gauguin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

I forgot to say smell the rhodies, too. The flowers. Because if you can get one with scent, it will perfume the air around it. Most nicely. Yes. Hybrids tend to be bred for bloom and climate; often the scent of the species was not kept. Sad, sad, sad, sad, get over it. Hee hee. It really is sad, because they smell terrific. And the scents are heat sensitive; the higher the ambient temperature, the more exotic oils are volatilized. R. fortunei hybrids often retain some scent; and likely some of the plants there will be those. But that's why you need to go look, too, while they're in bloom. Sniff one for me, Bobby. [Beware rhody habit of attempting human nasal pollination.]