I would have never thought of that! What kind of ratio of water-to-Roundup... 50-50, maybe? There aren't any kids around my house and the dogs are enclosed in the back, fenced portion of the property... the azaleas are outside the fence, so no problem there. Does a 2-liter soda bottle sound about right for the container? The vines do come up from center of the base of the bushes... can the Roundup hurt the bushes if the roots of the Honeysuckle are mingled with the azalea's roots? (I think that azalea roots tend to be shallow... not sure about the Honeysuckle.)

Alicia, around here you can buy bags of long fiber dried sphagnum moss at garden centers -- I've even seen it at Lowe's, too. That's what I use. I just rub it through a strainer, the ordinary kind with a handle you can buy in the kitchen tools section of a grocery store. It's the same moss as florists use, just dried. If the potting mix stays too moist or drainage isn't sufficient, add perlite. Don't worry about the seemingly big size of the perlite relative to the tiny seed. The sphagnum moss (or live moss, like Mainegrower uses) gets the seed going and then it roots down easily into the medium below. It seems to me azalea seedlings likes a lot of oxygen in the soil and not too much wet. Once they get beyond a certain size it becomes less critical. The other thing to do is make sure your containers have as many drain holes as you can reasonably punch in the bottom. I use an ice pick and put maybe 20 sizable holes in the bottom of a 3" x 5" container. You want the water to flow freely out of the bottom. Soeur

I'm new to gardening too, and don't know a whole lot, but I'd second the advice of planting a shade garden there instead. It sounds like it might be a pleasant spot to escape to when the summer gets good and hot. There are alot of shade loving perrenials that would better jazz that particular site up, and provide much more than a week or two's enjoyment. Ferns and hostas can provide year round foliage interest, bleeding hearts, astilbes I think like full shade as well. Eh, maybe not astilbes, check that one to be sure. Hellebores like shade, but they bloom in winter or very early spring. Hydrangeas, woodland phlox, columbine, japanese anemones, begonias, solomon's seal, geraniums... Check each one individually, as I am new and could be mistaken on a few of them, but I think most of these will like full shade. Those which can't tolerate the full shade, could be planted at the entrance to the area. And as someone else suggested, what doesn't do well there, can probably be moved later. I have a similar spot, which is actually beneath a 2nd story porch. Well, we have a raised ranch, which means our bottom floor is basement/garage, and to reach the front door you go up a full flight of steps. These lead to a long front porch, which is blocked from much sunlight by existing boxwoods. But some sun does creep in through the side, and I am studying it now to see which spots there get more sun that other spots. My daughters like to play there, because the spot stays relatively cool in the summer. So I am planting hostas and elephant ears there ---oh!! Caladiums grow fine in the shade, and can brighten a spot up very nicely with their many colors and variegation. But you'll have to dig the bulbs or tubers up every fall, and replant them every spring. Also coleus, though an annual, is cheap and very colorful. I believe they like full shade just fine. Another idea, is it may be a good out-of site spot for your compost piles, if you plan on starting one. On the subject of azaleas, I have three waiting to plant, but I too am worried about light conditions. I have a couple of spots that never receive direct sun, but they do receive plenty of general daylight. That is sufficient, yes? If not, I can plant them where they'd receive a few hours of sun every morning, but I'd really prefer them in that other no direct sun spot, if possible. Someone above confirmed that daylight enough should be good, but just to reconfirm, it will still flower just as fully without direct sun?

There are hundreds of azaleas that would be perfectly hardy in Z6. As far as the clay soil is concerned, plant above it rather than in it. This can be a raised bed or simply composted bark mounded up around the root ball and spread out for a few feet. Unless the underlying soil is really extremely akaline, this would also provide the acidity azaleas need.