Dog-Path Garden Azaleas
Gradually, sensibly, all my deciduous Azaleas are being relocated underneath the Copper Beech tree in the Dog-Path Garden. This area is shady all summer long. So it's roses out, Azaleas in - sometimes a direct swap of locations.
Deciduous Azalea Dorothy Corston
This used to be a rose garden, the spaces between the standard roses (all Rhapdosy in Blue) filled with perennials. Early favourites were a green leafed Santolina and a red flowering Monarda. Golden Celebrations, rescued roses, were planted in front of the Rhapsodies, inspired by the contrast of soft yellow and purple-blue. They hardly flowered at all either.
Oops...
Oops. The standard roses (all rehomed here, five dollars each) were extremely poor growers, and simply didn't make it. And why was this? Not enough sun, too much rocking and rolling in the wind, too many tree roots? By the time I noticed the state of their health it really was too late. And of course those early perennials didn't flourish for very long either. They did have stiff competition from a little Euphorbia, given to me by a so-called gardening friend. Hmm... It's been rather an invasive little nuisance. Was she really my friend?
Now lots of organic matter goes on this shady, shrubby garden. The Copper Beech tree always looks splendid in autumn, while the deciduous Azaleas do their thing in the spring when the tree is leafless. Some are labelled, and a fairly robust size, while others (smaller) were bred and gifted to me by my Plantsman friend. So far, so good - there are no obvious issues, and just a tiny bit of judicious pruning was needed to help the latest immigrants cope with their new garden. I don't really miss those roses at all!