Azaleas are blooming in South Mississippi

[BOSSHOG]

Drove down the highway today (26 February) and noticed quite a few azaleas in the early stages of bloomage. Mine are a scraggly mess awaiting a good pruning after they finish showing off.

[babylonsister]

1. BOSS, are you familiar with Plum Delights? They have fringy flowers

that are also blooming now, and bloom for weeks. I have three of them; here's the one in the backyard:

[BOSSHOG]

2. Wow, thats beautiful

That's about the bloom color of our redbuds. They've yet to bloom. Is that Plum a tree or shrub? Our yard is a mess, I'm so damn lazy.

[babylonsister]

3. It's whatever you want it to be. They can get big, but we trim them

copiously in the fall and then just let 'em go. Without the color, the leaves are plum on one side, green on the other. Pretty nifty plant in the south and they seem to do well even with the heat.
This guy's several years old.

[BOSSHOG]

4. My pride and joy

is an eight foot tall Japanese Magnolia (just about finished up blooming) Truly beautiful. When we returned home after the hurricane I thought It was gone. An oak branch had fallen on it and I couldn't see it. We lost several trees. We finally got the lumber cleaned out and that Magnolia continues to amaze. We've had it for eight years, brought it home as a two foot tall shrub. I asked the county extension guy what kind of maintenance I should provide. He said leave it alone and I have. Seems the things I don't pamper do best.