If you have the room in your yard and you want something that will add lots of color in the spring and summer then you can't do much better than get some Rhododendrons and Azaleas.This picture was taken earlier this week and as you can see they have quite nice green foliage after the have stopped blooming.
They are a native plants and do well around this area especially if you have clay in your soil. If you have a sandy loam like I do they will still do fine but you will have to give them a good feeding about once a month. There are plenty of good types of food made for Rhododendron and Azaleas.
When they in bloom you will need to deadhead, pick of the dead flowers, so they will keep blooming. Depending on the species the flowers can range from white to purple and some that even have multiple colors. When you deadhead there is a stock that the flowers grow on that will need to be snapped off along with the bloom. The stock is covered in a resin so you should wear gloves to keep from getting your hands sticky.
If you are ever inclined to do so you can make a cutting from a Rhododendron or Azalea but it isn't easy. On the branch that want to take your cutting from you will need to cut the bark just deep enough to take a one-inch strip off all the way around the branch. Then when you remove the bark you will see a milky sap that needs to be washed off the plant. Put rooting hormone on the exposed part of the branch. pack spagment moss around the expose area and water it. Then wrap the moss in plastic and seal the ends. In a few weeks you should see roots forming. When the roots look as though they about to burst out of the plastic then it is time to cut the branch off right below the roots.
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