what to plant with Azalea 'My Mary' in zone 7b

18 years ago

Under the front window of a house facing north and in zone 7b (winter) 8 (summer), I want to plant some dwarf and semi dwarf azaleas that bloom nicely in contrast to each other.

A 'My Mary' yellow blooming deciduous azalea will be planted at the Northeast corner of that house and possibly evergreen dwarfs could be planted to curve around the 'My Mary' to contrast with the yellow blooming taller deciduous azalea.

then maybe about 5 semi dwarfs could be arranged just to the right of those azaleas. These would be under a window and flanked on their right with a bed of small shade loving shrubs, ferns, and plants along with a slow growing verigated colors (light yellows, redish pink, white, bluish green) leaf Japanese maple tree.

All the azaleas except the 'My Mary and a few of the dwarfs will be in full shade. So dark colored bloomers and leafed varieties probably should be avoided, since they appear even darker in the shade.

Can any one suggest which cultivars would be most likely to survive and look the best in contrast to the yellow blooming 'My Mary' and the Japanese maple tree.

I plan to provide proper drainage, and to plant them all in a bed of mulched, 6 inch deep moistened Sorghamn Peat moss.

So the flowers can be noticed from the street, am I thinking right about needing to use ligher, brighter bloomers, maybe even whites in the darker, full shade area?

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Comments (3)

azaleaphile
18 years ago
A few comments. First, if you have really deep shade you won't get many flowers regardless of color. So plan(t) accordingly. Second, I would suggest using pine bark fines (AKA 'soil conditioner') instead of peat moss, which has a tendency to either repel or hold water (I've seen it blamed for both) in ways that are bad for azaleas. Peat moss is OK for potting mixes but not as the primary component of azalea beds. Try adding compost too. Remember to plant'em high.

Now about your original question ;^>... I agree that white or mostly white flowers and foliage can brighten up a dark corner. A good small white-flowered cv is 'Hardy Gardenia', which stays compact with great foliage throughout the year. Flowers just starting for me in MD. There's a Kurume I just saw called 'Mizo No Yamabuki' that has starry yellowish flowers that would complement your color scheme (don't know how big it gets). Check into Rhododendron keiskei (sp?) selections and cvs; the species has nice small yellow flowers, but probably earlier than 'My Mary'. Could also add some of the variegated-flower types that are white with stripes, flecks, etc. of purple or red (I think pink and yellow together are obnoxious but that's just my opinion; if you like that combo there are many more variegated azalea cvs to chose from). If you want nice low growers that can function as ground covers try the North Tisbury hybrids -- some have light enough flowers to work in your conditions.

There are some nice picture galleries on the Internet that might help you find cvs that you like, including at the ASA website (link below). Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Azalea Society of America website
katrina1
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks,

great suggestions for possible Azalea cultivars.

I also think it better to avoid mixing shrubs that flower pink with my deciduous yellow bloomer. Lots of people seem to like mixing reds with yellows, but my very favorite are the whites, verigated white with yellow blooms, and especially the violet-purples mixed around the light yellow blooming azaleas. The sources your suggestions led me to offered many options of color and shrub habit that seemed to offer the affect for which I was looking.

As for not using peat.
could it be that people who have trouble with Sorgumn peat try to mix too high of a concentration of it at ground level or deeper into virgin clay and doing so creates somethng similar to a bog?

raised peat beds do drain well and hold on to just enough moisture, but do not drown the shrub roots.

Then again could it be that others do not take the time and effort to completely saturate the dry Sorgumn before using it to build the raise bed? Or even if that was done correctly, could it be that other people encountering problems either did not mulch the raised peat bed properly, or did not monitor it closely enough in dry weather seasons to not keep the bed watered in such a way to keep the peat from drying out?

Like with most anything, neglect of just a few simple aspects can easily ruin an other wise good thing,

I find using the Peat beds, much easier, but you have gotten me interested in trying your bed preparation suggestion.
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winged_mammal
18 years ago
Lower concentrations of peat in a raised bed is fine. Putting it directly into a clay yard is a bad mixture.

what to plant with Azalea 'My Mary' in zone 7b

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azaleaphile

katrina1
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what to plant with Azalea 'My Mary' in zone 7b

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azaleaphile

katrina1Original Author

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katrina1
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