Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..
Showers early, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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On a sunny early morning a few days ago, I was taking our two dogs on their morning loop around the back field. Exercise more for me than the dogs, we start out taking a short walk down the road and then back home which requires a nicely pitched long driveway to warm me up and get my heart beating a little faster. The little field loop is then our cool-down and a chance for our female collie to do her “business.” She’s not a fan of doing it roadside like the male is.
Our little field is bounded by forest on three sides. There’s a term for this zone of native plants but I’m not recalling it. Some sun but plenty of dappled shade. This year is a banner one for our native pink lady slippers (Cypripedium acaule.) They were everywhere along the southern perimeter. Did you know the lady slipper is our official state wildflower? I found out while looking up the spelling of its Latin name. File that one away.
Almost back to the main lawn, I noticed something even a little more vivid pink and higher up than a lady slipper would be. Peeking through our perimeter dog fence, was a gorgeous cluster of pink. I knew immediately it was our native azalea and I was thrilled to see it on our property. I’d seen a couple over the years blooming brilliantly on an adjacent neighbor’s property and had toyed with sneaking over into their share of the woods to see if there was a small one I could dig and transplant. I never did, though… you know… karma and all that.
Upon seeing this one, though, I immediately thought about dashing and grabbing a round pointed shovel and digging it up. Almost as instantly, though, I thought to myself… Why would I do that? It’s here on your property, apparently doing fine and do you really need to create yet another project for yourself when you’ve got so many that are still unfinished? I’d probably wind up moving it someplace where it wouldn’t be particularly happy. I think I’ll just let it be.
Also known as Pinxter azalea or swamp azalea, the pink native variety is Rhododendron periclymenoides according to “Species Spotlight: Our Native Azaleas” at edgeofthewoodsnursery.com. When I came across the article, I wondered if the nursery was in driving distance but it’s in Pennsylvania. This in turn made me find another, definitely local site, to confirm the species I found was indeed Rhododendron periclymenoides. I found a blog post, “Early June Wildflowers” at nhgardensolutions.wordpress.com that confirmed it was indeed. Interestingly, the author expressed that the native pink azalea is very rare yet the other site said native azaleas could be found in 48 states of the US. Perhaps periclymenoides is seldom found in NH.
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with azaleas. Right now a pretty, cultivated yellow variety is blooming in one of my gardens but it’s only got a small handful of blooms on it. When I got it at my parent’s nursery years ago, it was strikingly full of the yellow blooms. A good example of nursery stock that has been fertilized and cared for in such a way to give it maximum market potential. It’s still beautiful but just a tad sparse bloom-wise for my taste. The thing that makes azaleas particularly appealing, though, is they have such a larger bloom color range. Much more than the large-leaved rhododendrons. Typically, just shades of white, red and pink, I still probably appreciate the large-leaved rhodies for their evergreen nature even more. I’ve only found azaleas that lose their leaves in the fall. If anyone has a broader knowledge of azaleas and rhododendrons, please give me a shout!
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