Last week, in this series about planting under mature deciduous trees, we moved across my USDA zone 7 garden to the West Border and looked at a part of this border that has frustrated me for years. This week, we'll look at the rhododendrons and azaleas, who have done well over the years and provide my garden with a glorious display in May.
My marginal records indicate that these plants were planted in about 1982. I ran across a photo of the border I'd taken soon after planting and pasted in a notebook. It's hard to believe these guys were teeny little blobs of green with what seemed like acres of space around each one. But, time passes and plants grow faster than you'd think.
As nearly as I can remember, I had dug over this entire border before planting. In those days, I had a compost heap for the vegetable garden and probably added some of that as well as sand to the native clay soil. I can also remember that we bought mulch by the truckload back then, so it is likely that they were planted a bit high and mulched quite well. This border drains very well and with all the root competition, needs a lot of supplemental watering during hot, dry periods.
As with the rest of this series, this page may be slow to load for some of you, because of the photographs. Your patience is appreciated.
Mixed Rhododendrons and Azaleas
As you may remember from the photograph of this area of the border in last week's article, the boxelder (Acer negundo) and bird cherry (Prunus spp.) that dominate this scene are encompassed, on the right and behind, by massed rhododendrons and evergreen azaleas.
The two trees are immediately to the right and a bit in front of the group in this photograph. In the foreground is Rhododendron 'Scintillation', one of the best cultivars available. It's hard to see in the photo, but they have been underplanted by Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum), which thrives here and doesn't go dormant and ratty as it does in other, less watered parts of the garden. Actually, there are two plants here, which accounts for the wide spread, although this cultivar will become wider than tall. 'Scintillation' is extra hardy, to -10F (-23C), so those of you in the north may want to consider this one. It is said to reach five feet (1.5m) in height and mine are just about there after something like seventeen years in place. The foliage is also good - it isn't on some rhododendrons- remaining a nice deep green, with a heavy, waxy texture.
