The dianthus were just transplanted a month ago and I hope they will fill in well. The landscaping was done when we bought the house and I knew little about garden design. Of course I regret it now. The edging is brick on a cement base and will take some work to remove or change. Funny you should mention expanding the beds, I just spoke to a landscaper about expanding the beds out a little further. Decided to wait on it till spring but am open to suggestions on how best to do this, I am considering leaving the brick in place and expanding the bed out anyways............

They are both double evergreen azaleas. White Rosebud is an Auggie Kehr hybrid of Rosebud. Rosebud: [Louise Gable x Caroline Gable], Pink, Flower broadly funnel-shaped, double, hose-in hose, 1 1/8" across, strong purplish-pink, flushed with slight veining of deep purplish pink, blooms Midseason, Height (ft.) in 10 Yrs: 4, -10°F (-23°C), Leaves 1" to 1 1/2" long, glossy, mid green. Spreading, dense habit (Gable) White Rosebud: [Vervaeneanum Album x Rosebud], White, Flower about 2" across, double with about 40 lobes, white with green throat. Lax truss holds 1-4 flowers, blooms Midseason, Height (ft.) in 10 Yrs: 3, -10°F (-23°C), Leaves elliptic, obtuse apex, cuneate base, 1" long, glossy, bullate, mid green, held for 2-3 years. Dense, slow-growing plant. Upright habit (Kehr)

Hi Hunter! I have a weather station in a cold spot in yard and the coldest temperature it has recorded so far is 42F. Other nearby weather stations recorded 44F so I guess my yard is a little bit cooler (I wish it wasnt true!). I had to take in a lot of plants today because the forecast is really cold. Saturday is suppose to get to 33F so it looks like this year we will get our first frost a month earlier than the time we got our first frost last year. Hopefully we get the cold over with in early winter and things warm up for late winter and spring! My Plumeria was a big challenge to take inside today, it stands at over 10 feet tall right now! I remember 3 years ago when I got it as a 1 foot tall stick. Banana trees and bamboo is a good sign of a nice climate! My Velutina is doing good. The bananas never really did ripen enough to eat, but I guess the seeds are somewhere on the ground. The pup outgrew the mother plant this year and It has some more pups on its way! I'll probably dig it up this year since its still small, but I'll keep it in the ground next winter. Thanks for looking! Im glad you liked the pics! -Alex

Hi, everyone. Just an update on my search for the Cumberland (flame) azaleas. I went back this time and the Mountain Laurels were in full bloom, but no azaleas. (You were right about the ID on that one, Marty; I had just forgotten what azalea buds look like!) But, boy, the laurels sure were pretty. I'm kicking myself now for not getting a picture of one. Some of them were 15 feet tall and covered with white blooms! However, with a little searching around, I think I found the right plants this time. They just weren't quite ready yet. :-) Here is a photo: And here is another: I didn't get a picture this time, but I think I even found the exact plant that was blooming in the photo I posted earlier. It was just a little bit further along the trail. The forest had shifted around a bit in the intervening years since we took the first photo. :-) My brother assures me they will bloom the first week of June. I had remembered them as blooming in June, but over time I had convinced myself that must not be right, given that most other azaleas bloom so much earlier. So in another two weeks I'm going back. I have flagged these in the meantime, but I will go back and verify that they are indeed the right plants. So, Marty, when would we need to go back to collect the seed? By the way, one of the pink ladyslippers was still blooming. Here is a photo of it for your enjoyment, although the light was very dim under the full forest canopy, so it is a bit dark: It was tempting to try to collect seed from the ones that had finished blooming, but I know zero about that, so I figured, rather than depleting the supply that will fall to the forest floor and make new orchids, I'd just let the experts handle it. :-) More soon, I hope. --April