Hello, Rachel77. I could not tell where in Texas you are located so I am not sure if my comments apply well to your situation. The reason for checking was that, in East Texas, the soil is naturally acidic so you can basically grow many types of Azaleas easily. However, if you are in the center or western parts of the state, you will have to ammend the soil heavily because azaleas will require acidic soil and because our soil is so bad. Raised beds are called for in these parts provided you do not want to have azaleas lasting for a few months only. Among the recommended varities for MY area are the Kurume Group: Snow-White, Hino-Crimson, Hinodegiri (rose red), Coral Bells (pink), Christmas Cheer (opal red), and the Southern Indicas: Formosa (magenta), Judge Solomon (watermelon Pink), George Tabor (orchid, lavender, magenta botch), Mrs, G.C. Gerbing (white). Other things to consider... regarding roses, they need a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight or they will grow but not thrive. If you plan to grow them there, that would call for some varities that can withstand shade... like Altissimo, Tuscany, Dortmund, Souvenir du Doctor Jamain. Those are "more" shade tolerant. Research to see if any of those has a climbing variety (Altissimo does for sure). Red-tip photinias are very susceptible to fungal infections so they require special care when watering. I have had to remove some of mine because the leaf spot problem was very bad. But other than that, they are low maintenance. Chinese Fringe Flowers (a.k.a, loropetalum) have varities that can get very big. I cannot tell which variety you have so, I would recommend choosing an azalea or rose that will grow taller than the loropetalum is supposed to grow. Good luck!

Thanks for your comments gardengal - especially a propos since we're close geographically, and it looks like you have oodles of experience. One of the reasons I didn't want to yet place in the ground is because of comfrey growing behind the roses - well, now up through ÂePeaceÂf as well, sigh. 'Peace' seems to be suffering for it, and/or maybe for other reasons. The roses have a fair bit of blackspot; I'd prefer better access until (?if!) I get that under better control. Have just now pruned most of the dead bits, and will gradually prune more, after blooms, so also need access for that. I likely need to prune more aggressively in the first place, but so far IÂfm not adequately decisive. I agree about how nice the clems would look with these roses, but it just seems to me they'd really cover them (& already were growing over a foot above Abe). There are about 9 hefty vine stems coming from each pot, with off-branching I think. One possibility for one of the blue clems is near a purple azalea - of course they wonÂft be in bloom at the same time. This azalea seems to be dying out on about half so the clematis could cover up the dead branches (& more)Âc though maybe not great if hope of it recovering significantly (sentimental value, coming from a family member). ThatÂfs a more shady area (north side of house). I haven't looked/done enough rose/clematis combos to make a fully informed assessment of ÂgoverwhelmingÂh the rose. The only other ones we have are: 'Nelly Moser' growing up from under 'Compassion' (not such a great color match to my eyes, but now difficult to get at Nelly) - and 'Jackmanii' providing a nice bridging color between 'Elina' and 'Pink Peace' roses... but going up a trellis so not really on the roses. Hmmm, now that I think about it, also have 'Comptesse de Bouchard' getting mixed in (but usually mostly trellised beside) with 'Sunsprite', and 'The President' sort of trellised, mostly beside but also through a bit of 'Mary' rose (love that combo). None of those are super vigorous (probably need feeding). Our biggest clematis is probably 'Allanah' (gorgeous deep red, not near a rose) - I can't picture her right on a rose unless many of the vines were teased out to grow trellised outside of the rose too. Also - back with the blue Integrifolias... there's another rose (label kaput so not sure what variety - it was so covered up that it hasn't seen much light of day lately), from large peat pot, that has rooted into the ground just adjacent to the clems, much closer than the other roses, such that if I dig the clems up, I'd probably need to extricate the roots from this rose (which ideally I'd move too).... too much, too close!! I'll have to look more for combo pics. Meanwhile, probably will wait to move/re-pot ÂeBlue BoyÂf and ÂeBlue BellÂf. Maybe will try an obelisk for now.

Well, I am glad the laundry soap worked for you. I am going out to sprinkle some on a Fire Ant mound. They decided to build right in my vegetable garden, for Pete's sakes. We are expecting Thunderstorms today...in fact any minute. I just heard a distant rumble. Need to move all the seedlings back into the greenhouse in case we get hail. Ugh! Gotta go put some plastic collars around the newly set Genovese Basil seedlings so they don't get beat to death. I cut the bottoms out of old 3-4" plastic pots and set them around tender plants to protect them from wind damage. I stick a fat stick next to each tender plant to keep cutworms from chewing through them, or use paper collars. Once the stems get thick and tough, the paper collars have decayed and turned back to the earth. I find things that work that are cost-free and recycle everything I can. I do not like to use insecticides or chemical fertilizers. Yes, my place is a working garden. If you lived close to me, we could share plants and help each other. (I have way too many vegetable seedlings this year. EVERY seed grew!) Ain't that the pits to live so far from the ones you click with? Oh, well, I am glad to have you all on here to share with and cry with too. Some of us call each other and some we exchange emails, Some of us trade plants and things. It is great to have long-distance friends. These are the best bunch of people I know. Better get back out there and finish before the storm hits. The clouds are building fast. Hope we don't get hail and tornadoes tonight. Happy Earth Day! ~Annie

The plants are very similar, but their history is very different. Kurume azaleas are the result of many generations of breeding for use in a climate with lows of about +5° F. They are typically dense low growing bushes. On the other hand, Belgian Indicas were propagated to be grown in greenhouses and sold as house plants. Some of these were hybridized with hardier plants to be grown in the Southern US, becoming the Southern Indicas. When grown as garden plants, they tend to be taller and larger plants. Kurume azaleas were bred at Kurume, an inland town in Kyushu, which is the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. The ancestral forms, were brought early in the 19th century from sacred Mt Kirishima, and from them seedlings were raised and propagated by Motozo Sakamoto. On his death the collection passed to Kijiro Akashi, who developed the race and is said to have raised most of those in cultivation. The azaleas of Mt Kirishima, are very variable in the size and persistence of their leaves, and also in their flowers, which 'vary a little in size, in degree of fragrance and greatly in color; the most common shades are rosy mauve to magenta, but salmon and salmon-red are plentiful; pink, scarlet and crimson are rather rare. Plants bearing white flowers are occasionally found'. The two species that grow on the mountain are R. kiusianum and R. kaempferi, and it is now thought that the polymorphism of the Kirishima azaleas is due to hybridization between them. Some of the Kurume azaleas show the influence of R. kaempferi quite strongly, but others, especially those with white or pale pink flowers, are very different from authentic R. kiusianum as grown in this country, yet show no influence of R. kaempferi. There appears to be some other element in the race, and it is suggested that this may be R. sataense. In the 19th century Kurume was remote from the main horticultural centers, and its azaleas were scarcely known, even in Japan itself, but early in this century a few reached Europe through the Yokohama Nursery Company, and others were imported by Dutch nurserymen. Among these were two of the most famous: 'Hinomayo' and 'Hinodegiri'. Apart from these, the Kurumes grown in Britain belong to the 'Wilson Fifty', so called because they were selected from Asahi's collection by the great plant-collector E. H. Wilson when he visited Kurume in 1918. Two sets of these fifty varieties (out of the 250 then grown) were bought by him for the Arnold Arboretum, where they were propagated and further distributed. Wilson gave English names to his Fifty, which are not translations from the Japanese but invented by him. They are rarely used, the Japanese names being more memorable, even if difficult to pronounce correctly. Kurume azaleas are not widely grown, partly because they are thought to be tender. A few are definitely tender, but these have mostly dropped out of commerce; the rest are hardier than generally supposed, though like many other evergreen azaleas they may suffer damage from frost when young. The flowers are small, but borne in wonderful profusion in late April or May. In several varieties the calyx is petaloid, i.e., converted into a sort of outer corolla, colored and marked like the true corolla. Although the result of several generations of breeding, they have retained the dense and comparatively dwarf habit of their wild ancestors. They tolerate full sun, and woodland conditions are quite alien to their nature. Kurume azaleas are hardy to Zone 7, +5° F. After five to eight years in the garden, most Kurume azaleas become dense 18- to 30-inch bushes with small glossy leaves. In spring the foliage is hidden by 1-inch flowers. Typical varieties are 'Coral Bells', medium pink; 'Eureka', similar to 'Coral Bells' but hardier; 'Glory', salmon pink; 'Hershey's Red', rose red; 'Hino Crimson', crimson; 'Hinode Giri', bright red; 'Lorna', bright pink; 'Polar Bear', white and 'Snow', white. For hardiness: 'Blaauw's Pink' salmon pink; and Karen', dark lavender, are hardy to Zone 6, -5° F. The Indica or Belgian Indian azaleas are divided into two groups according to their hardiness. The Belgian Indicas were developed as house plants in the 1800s and are generally hardy to Zone 10, +35° F; Southern Indicas were developed from plants at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, S.C. and are generally hardy to Zone 8, +15° F. Both types may become 6 feet tall and 10 feet or more across after 5 to 10 years in the garden. The flowers, especially of the Belgian Indica type, are apt to be frilled at the edge or many-petaled double blossoms and often are 2 to 3 inches across. Typical Belgian Indica varieties are: 'Alaska', snow white, two layers of petals; 'Albert and Elizabeth', white, edged pink, double; 'Avenir', salmon pink, double; 'California Sunset', variegated white and pink, double; and 'Fire Dance', fiery red, double. Typical Southern Indicas, all with single blossoms having one layer of petals, are 'Brilliant', red; 'Duc de Rohan', salmon pink; 'Fielder's White', snow white; 'Prince of Wales', cherry red; ´Formosa´, (deep magenta-purple flowers); ´George Lindley Tabor´, (white flowers with purplish-pink blotch and purple throat); ´Delaware Valley White´, (pure white flowers with ruffled petals); and 'Southern Charm', deep rose pink. For hardiness: 'Formosa', also called 'Phoenicia', lavender, is hardy to Zone 6, -5° F.