And the verdict is....

I finally got a clue about what was happening to the azaleas on Wednesday morning. All my clue needed was confirmation from someone in the know, so to speak, and that came last night. We had a couple of lines of heavy thunderstorms that moved through the area on Tuesday night. That was a bad bit of timing for the remaining azaleas as I had watered them on Sunday night and I knew that there would be too much water for them come Wednesday morning. I was right as the big azalea was showing signs of stress.So, my wife had the idea that we dig it up and bring it to a nursery for a diagnosis. It came back as root rot which is indicative of poorly draining soil which leaves the plants too wet to survive. Azaleas have very fine roots that grow close to the surface and any prolonged wetness will damage them beyond repair. So, we need to dig up the dead bushes and transplant the one that is just hanging on in hopes of resurrecting it.

So, poorly draining clay soil in partial shade may be a decent place for a plant called summersweet. Looking it up on the world wide web I noticed that there is a variety called hummingbird that has a tendency to grow to a maximum of 4 feet high and has a nice fragrance to it. It does attract bees and birds, which may not be a bad thing. We'll see if we can find some flowers that will be attractive to us.

If not, it is fill 'n grade time in hopes of providing better drainage in the front garden. Oh well, at least the variegated hosta and euonymus are loving it. I guess that counts for something.

Powered by ScribeFire.