Shocking pink

One of the most amazing sights in the springtime Alabama woodlands are the native azaleas.  The nearly neon pink blooms seem to float effortlessly among the dark trunks and budding leaves of the canopy.  The color seems to explode upon the senses.

These azaleas are slow growing so clear cutting forests forces them to the ground to start over, meaning it is years before they bloom again.  The rest of the year, the shrub is virtually unnoticeable so they often go un-rescued when a woodland is scheduled for harvesting.

While I have many woodland rescues in my garden, I never take a native azalea from the woods.  They are available for purchase at specialty nurseries.  I purchased a tiny, 6 inch speciman of a piedmont azalea about 8 years ago.  I've waited and waited for my own display of shocking pink flowers floating in my landscape.

It was well worth the wait.  My piedmont baby has been randomly blooming for the last three years, but this year there are about 15 blooms, enough to create that ephemeral, double take explosion of pink I've been waiting for.