Viewing comments posted by csandt

The individual flowers of Encore Azalea (Rhododendron Autumn Twist) are pretty, but the plant is messy looking, in my humble opinion.

When doing some fall cleanup in my southeast Pennsylvania garden today (Deember 13, 2015), I was amazed to see Rijnveld's Early Sensation shoots poking through the mulch! Is anyone else seeing signs of spring this early, or are my plants alone in their confusion?

I planted two Buddleja Buzz Sky Blue in mid-summer 2014 and was so pleased with them that I added 11 more in 2015. I chose them for their drought tolerance, profuse flowering habit, and long period of bloom (July - frost). They stay reasonably small (maxing out at 5 feet tall and wide) and appear to be sterile (no little ones). The flowers are a lovely shade of blue/violet, and the butterflies love them.

Lavender is a must-have plant for me! I tried growing lavender 'Hidcote", 'Munstead' and 'Augustifolia' at various locations on my windy hilltop before finding 'Grosso', a French cultivar used for its fragrance in perfumes, etc. Sadly, in open, sunny locations, all the 'Hidcote', 'Munstead' and 'Augustifolia' plants died. In a protected area with morning sun, they thrived but grew woody and ugly after a couple of years.

Then I tried 'Grosso' in the protected location and have been very pleased. It produced a nice mound that did not develop the ugly woodiness of the two other cultivars I have tried. 'Grosso' has survived two severe winters in the protected location, although it did not survive the open, sunny spot.

I may be butchering lavender nomenclature by calling species cultivars. Please forgive (and educate) me!

The foliage is beautiful! However, I was hoping for pink flowers, based on the description on the label, but the flowers are actually a not-so-pleasing white. Is flower color purely genetic, or is there a soil additive that would turn the flowers pink?