Take a gander at some super-common English Roseums on the shady side of my front garden. Just posting this photo, I notice how much better they show off against the new fence than they ever did against the ivy-covered chainlink. Big improvement! (Though I DO hear from neighbors who “miss the ivy”. I bet they wouldn’t miss the constant cutting back required to keep it off the beds and the sidewalk.)
But about rhododendrons, they sure don’t do well around here – except when they seem to flourish, and I may never understand why. But even when they stay alive, my shrubs look great one year and then lose half their scrawny stems over the winter, and I start all over trying to nurse them back to a nice shape. And this particular rhodie is often recommended as the most likely to succeed in this region.
On a positive note, the temporary nature of their perfection makes them all the more awesome today.
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Lovely against the new fence! I am a fiend for lavender rhodies but cannot recognize this gal from the photo–Sappho? Flora Plenum? Do tell.
Gosh, Daffodil Planter, I wish I could tell you more. My records just say English Roseum and “pink-lavender”.
We’re too far north for rhodies. Wish we could grow them, they’re so beautiful