I'm late chiming in here, but after a fairly cold winter in DC, the ones I planted in a public garden are doing great -- we had prolonged cold that damaged a number of borderline-hardy plants that haven't been injured in recent years with their zone 8 winters. Our low was somewhere in the middle single digits, perhaps 7 or 8 degrees Fahrenheit or maybe a bit lower, and we spent many long hours well below freezing unlike most winters. There was also very little snow to be seen. The plants of 'Fortune's Double Yellow' were almost uninjured, and at least one of the specimens didn't even lose all of its leaves! They are all budding out vigorously now, and are probably about 4' high by 6' wide after a mere two years in the ground from bands. The summer heat may certainly be ripening the canes; these plants do not lack for water during the summer and some of them are in part shade. Stefan

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

Thanks, guys. Kim, THREE plants of FDY in one two gallon can? I'm surprised the can has not exploded! Of course understand what you mean about waiting for cooler weather to separate them. I am glad that they are in good hands. What are you going to do with three FDYs? Just wondering... Nik - whenever mine blooms, I hope the blooms are bigger than they were when it was in shade (I was determined to grow it up that oak tree - bad idea). I will definitely post pics of the blooms when they arrive. My plant is in an area of our garden where our frequently visiting doe and her new fawn and her yearling doe from last year like to hang out, so I have explained to my FDY that the only solution to the deer issue is to get very tall very fast. It seems to have comprehended that. Jackie

We had some very good news today regarding the parent plant from which I took the cutting for my rose several years ago. I posted pics on here then - it was enormous, and growing over the tops of 3-4 large trees in a park in a nearby town. The little park is alongside a creek, which in the 60s the Corps of Engineers turned into a cement drainage channel to prevent floods, which happened a lot then. Fast forward - there was a terrible, horrible flood in that little town (Ross, CA) on New Year's evening in, I think, 2000. Literally "the whole town is under water". There were pics of the cute little downtown, with a rushing torrent running through it which came up about 6-7 feet high on all of the buildings on the main street. Anyway, the town voted to tax itself to do something about the flooding, and 20 years later, $$$$ had been spent on consultants, etc., but NOTHING had actually happened physically about changing anything. The plan, unfortunately, involved clear cutting the entire little park where FDY is, including all of the mature trees, so they could bulldoze it, and lower the level, and get rid of the cement channel, and make the creek more natural, with a "flood plain" where the park was, to absorb and spread out any flood water. I talked with the town head of DPW about 5 years ago (he was the person who actually had planted the rose decades ago, after taking a cutting from an ancient one growing on the property of a large old estate nearby), and he said all of trees, including the old huge rose, would go. Fast forward, and I started reading in our local paper that the townspeople were pushing back hard on the idea of clear cutting the park. Good news - today when my DH and I were on a bike ride alongside the still cement drainage channel, we were looking at signs which had been posted on the fence, describing the project, which was evidently actually starting soon, after 20+ years. A nice young women approached us, and asked us if we had any questions. She said that she was the "project manager". She showed us on the pictures where the bulldozing would be happening, and which trees would be taken out, and which would remain. Yay! They had changed the plan so that 2/3rds of the little park would be left as it is, including all of the trees the rose was growing on, and of course the rose. I was jumping up and down with happiness. The rose is currently in full bloom (pic below, which I took this morning, is about one quarter of the entire thing), so I recommended that she go and look at it, and she said she would. Sometimes bureaucrats and their consultants need to be yelled at by the residents... Jackie