The Beauty of Azaleas

Having grown up in Mobile, I never really appreciated this lovely evergreen shrub until I moved away and returned home.  And even then, the azaleas were just something that you knew would be there for a few weeks in the spring. Until I started this blog, I never even looked closely at an azalea blossom.  I found some lovely photos from the Azalea Society of America. So while I am waiting for Mobile to burst into full bloom, here are some samples of this beautiful shrub, which is sometimes known as the "royalty of the garden."

 

Azaleas are in the genus rhododendron. There are differences between the two. One is in the number of stamens on the flowers--azaleas have five or six and most rhododendrons have ten. 

There are a couple of other differences between azaleas and rhododendrons. One difference is in the leaves.  Azalea leaves are thinner, softer, and more pointed than rhododendron leaves.

The underside of azalea leaves also have 'hairs' which are long, straight, and parallel to the leaf's surface.

Another difference is on the underside of the leaf. The underside of an azalea leaf, when magnified, is free from 'scales,' or lepidotes, whereas the rhododendron leaves are covered with them.

I lived in Virginia for several years, where the rhododendrons were plentiful. My recollection of them was in their size--their bushes were quite large, and had more greenery visible during the bloom season.

Photos: http://www.azaleas.org/

The Pride of Mobile

It's azalea season here in Mobile, also known as the Azalea City.  There is even an azalea named for Mobile.....The Pride of Mobile.  The blossoms are almost the color of watermelon. This picture doesn't really portray how lovely the flowers really are.

The azaleas are just now beginning to bud, probably due to the severe cold weather in January.  Sometimes if we have a mild winter, they will start blooming, and another hard freeze will come along and destroy the blossoms.

I'm really hoping for a beautiful azalea season this year. 

Helen Keller Becomes Famous

She quickly learned the names for the water pump, trellis, and everything else on the way back to the house. When Helen wanted to know Anne's name, she spelled the word 't-e-a-c-h-e-r' on Helen's hand.  Soon after this remarkable turn of events, Anne began teaching Helen to read, first with raised letters and later with braille. She also taught Helen to write with regular and braille typewriters.

Michael Anagnos, the director of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind, heard about Helen's amazing progress. In promoting her by writing numerous articles, he said that "she is a phenomenon." The articles that he wrote generated much publicity, including pictures of her reading Shakespeare or stroking her dog.

As a result of her fame, Helen visited President Grover Cleveland at the White House.  She went back to live at the Perkins Institution, where Anne continued to teach her. In March of 1890 she met Mary Swift Lamson, who would try to teach her to speak over the course of the next year. Unfortunately, her vocal chords had never been properly trained so that her efforts at speech were unsuccessful at this stage of her life.  More to come ...

"Death is no more than passing from one room to another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see." - Helen Keller (http://www.brainyquote.com/)


Biographical Information: www.rnib.org.uk/

The Daring Determined Day Lily Development -- FINITE!

Before.....

After.....

Happy Spring!

To celebrate the arrival of spring, I took a walk around my back yard yesterday afternoon.

Don't you love my lop-sided birdfeeders? The squirrels have broken them so many times, they have been 'fixed' with wires used to hang pictures.


I absolutely splurged on some hanging baskets of nasturtium and bouganvillea.

Two of my kitty 'helpers' can be seen enjoying the garden.

Columbine corner.  The live oaks are shedding their leaves. They land in the bird bath as fast as I can scoop them out.

There are three black cats. The same one is not moving around to get in all of the pictures.

The Beautiful Bradford Pears!

They are now in full bloom....it just can't be more beautiful than today.  This is the last post on these gorgeous trees.

The Daring Determined Day Lily Development!

My daughter surprised me Thursday night with these gorgeous day lilies!  Now comes the hard work. Next to the south side of my house is an area which contains several crepe myrtle trees and nothing else. I will show you the pictures shortly, although I am a little embarassed by the squalid look.

Every year cosmos reseed themselves and just take over this area. My daughter and I have a running debate about these. She says weed, I say cosmos.  Some grow over 6 feet tall. Between those and the evil weed (cobblers peg) I couldn't even walk there last summer.

So this year things are going to be different! First, though, the beds have to be cleaned out. So this is going to be a major project.

Day lilies are just about the best perennial in the world, for someone like me, who needs plants which basically tend to themselves.  Some of these babies already have buds; they are in three heights: 18", 24" and 28" and in shades of pink, red, and yellow.  I can envision this in my mind so hope to see this come to fruition in the next few days.  Stay tuned for progress reports....