Azalias

It’s been a long, busy day. After going to the store to do our weekly shopping, I weeded the garden that I started mulching yesterday. In about two hours I got it weeded. I would normally go out and get it done first thing in the morning, but we wanted to get the shopping done first. But that’s not really what this post is about.

It’s about azalias. We have plenty of them and they’re huge.

In 2006 (give or take a year) I started putting coffee grounds on them. Before that, they weren’t knee high.

Back when this was taken, everything was small. Even my son, he’s about 4 years old in this picture!!!! My beagle, Gracie, passed away in 2008.

Azalias love acidic stuff. You could put pine needles around them, but I save them for my blueberry plants. Coffee grounds have a lot of acid, even spent grounds. I just save the grounds we use to brew coffee and dump them on the azalias. I put them on my holly trees and hydrengea too – when I think about it.

I can hardly believe how much things have changed around here. But it’s bound to happen!

Sometimes, these area get forgotten. Last summer, I thinned out the hosta growing near the top of the photo. It was growing under the deck.

When I was cleaning out all the vine from the azalias along the lane, I pulled this up by accident. It was a branch that had rooted itself. I cut it off and replanted it near the elm tree along side the lane.

Looks like bare dirt, but it’s not.

Some azalia facts:

• also known as “Royalty of the Garden”

• nectar and leaves are highly poisonous; in the past see as a death threat if given in a black vase

• need acidic soil
• info is from “Ten Random Facts

“Minds are like flowers; they only open when the time is right.” – Stephen Richards