shrug
It could be that my azaleas just suck or something.
Now my ROSES, on the other hand, were actually on the bush on New Year’s Day 2000 (they normally are around till Thanksgiving or so). I don’t know what it is about West Virginia but all you’ve gotta do here is stick roses in the ground and they go nuts.
I’ve heard that before. We just bought a house, and the next-door neighbors are transplants (har!) from West Viriginia who brought their rose bushes with them when they moved. Their roses are fabulous, and starting to bud already - quite impressive in zone 6, where I live. My rose bushes look like half-gnawed sticks and I don’t hold out much hope that much is going to happen with them.
Yes. I wonder if what you have are azaleas because everywhere else in the world, they bloom for about 2 weeks and look ugly as shit the other 50.
I can’t believe yours are starting to open now, because they’re not really opening in Baltimore yet and we should be ahead of you.
We ripped ours up recently, and. . .put in a rock garden. And the rocks are still alive.
I think your neighbors should be pitting **you ** for ruining some fine Azaleas.
Right in front of my house are two grave-sized plots of ground. I know there are no bodies buried there, because you can’t grow anything in that soil. I planted rosebushes, I planted wildflowers—soil’s dead, nothing will take root. I’ve asked and asked my cheapskate (absentee) landlord to have those plots resodded, and I would buy the plants and do the work myself, but we won’t do it (“It’ll bring up the property value” didn’t even sway him).
I really want to put in blue hydrangeas and white roses—I’ve never seen a garden done all in blue and white. But no chance of that happening . . .
It’s possible that my plants are mutants. But I think it’s my mom’s “magic dirt” - her azaleas always bloom for at least 6 weeks. Mine look like they are going to do the same (transplants from her garden). Maybe I’m in a “special” ag zone? Or maybe I’ve just gotten lucky.
This sounds quite lovely and very old-fashioned (in the best possible way)! I would like to do this myself (with some of those tiny yellow climbing tea roses on a trellis, as well). Have to see what the existing rose bushes will do first, though.
Have you tried covering the “dead” areas in your yard with containers? Would the cheapskate allow that? I don’t think you can do quite what you want, but many blue and white flowers from bulbs and seeds will take to containers, and at least the spots won’t be all blank and icky.
[Steve Martin Hat On] Those aren’t azaleas…those are assholes. [/Steve Martin Hat]
Seriously…I live in a quarrified area. Trees and weeds flourish, but I have too much shade for most flowers. I will try the azalea this spring and see if I can’t beautify my little corner of the world. Up 'til now, I’ve had to do mostly impatiens, which, while lovely, can get to be a real bore after 16-17 years of 'em.
FWIW my azaleas are blooming.
Well the pink ones, anyway. The white ones aren’t doing anything yet.
Kalhoun, may I recommend bleeding hearts as well? They come in red and white varieties and thrive in shade. Throw a little potting soil on top of 'em when you plant them, and you may find that they take over large parts of the garden. They also transplant well.
Also, African impatiens might be a nice alternative to the New Guinea varieties. They’re a sort of “newer” variety which look similar to snapdragons and come in shades of yellow and orange - perhaps a welcome change to the mostly pinks and purples of the “standard” impatiens. Good luck!
We planted silverthorn in the front yard. As I always do with new plants, I watered them faithfully.
The leaves turned yellow and fell off.
I panicked. More water! More water!
Then I went online, popped “eleagnus” in Google, and found out that silverthorn thrive in drought conditions. 
I backed off the watering, and they came back quite nicely. Now, whenever we get new plants, we hop online before planting to see how to care for them. We found that the best place for our new oleanders was actually by the silverthorn, since they both like dry soil. We are going to have a spectacular hedge one of these days.
“A few minutes of research is worth a pound of compost.”
So to successfully grow azaleas, I need coffee grounds, gypsum, and … bodies???
Not necessarily… These azaleas are known for blooming early and lasting all summer long.
These look like the ones I have (although many azaleas look alike). I will also have some orange ones and some white ones later, but the pink ones are open now.
Each time our subdivision gives us a weed warning, I keep (jokingly) suggest to the parental units that we should just replace our entire yard with dandelions. That would sure beat having to put up with the “spot balding” look the yard sports now. 
I love azaleas. I planted 5 of them 3 years ago and all but one have done well. Here’s what I’ve learned:
In climates like mine in southern Ohio, azaleas do best with east or west exposure. Northern exposure is too shady and southern exposure is too sunny. If your neighbors’ bushes across the street are doing really well, then it might be best to plant your azaleas in your back yard to mimic the sun exposure. Aside from soil conditions, which has been covered, sun exposure is important.
Not only does the soil need to be acidic, but if you have a lot of clay in your soil you need to line the hole with peat moss and good topsoil so that the clay doesn’t produce a bathtub effect. For that reason, when you water, esp. in clay, don’t over-saturate or you’ll get root rot. It is better to water them once a day for a bit than to water them every other day for a longer time. Water them often in the dog days of summer.
Azaleas are the southern belles of plants and like to be protected. That’s why you’ll usually see them close to the foundation, next to the tree line, and/or in groups. If you try to grow them outside of their indigenous area, then they need to be babied even more. They’re lucky they’re so beautiful or they wouldn’t be worth all the trouble.
The “Black Thumb” joke:
Some time ago, I was in a car accident and was left with persistant lower back pain. After my regular doc (rest, heat, drugs), orthopedist (rest, hot tub, physical therapy) and chiropractor (~crack!~ “feel better?”) all tried and failed to help, I went to an acupuncturist. After one session I felt better and after four weeks the pain stopped coming back. At my last visit, I brought my ‘doc’ an small palm tree as a thank you gift. He said “Don’t give it to me, I have a black thumb, I kill everything I touch.”
[long pause]
-kdeus
[hijack]Hi neighbor! 
[/hijack]
But is it highry quarrified?
Eve lives in New Jersey. You never know when you’re gonna dig up some evidence out there…
Rockle Rocks!! Thanks for the tip! I’ll be hitting the nursery in the next couple weeks.