Currently your azalea is in good shape, with new foliage looking healthy. "make sure you water often, azaleas love water" Please don't follow these directions as the poster is in Houston TX and probably does fine with azaleas there, but this won't work in midwestern clay. As a former Ohioan, this will leave your azalea with roots deprived of oxygen from saturated soil. I would mulch around your azalea with wood chips which will help keep the ground evenly moist and will over time add organic matter. Don't put them right against the trunk, however; leave a few inches between the trunk and where the mulch starts. If you haven't had significant rain for more than a week, stick your finger down through the mulch into the soil around your azalea to feel whether it needs water. You don't want the rootball soggy, but you don't want to let it get really dry as it can be hard to get the grower's mix to rewet. You have chosen a reasonable spot for it where it gets good light, but shelter from the worst of the southern sun. This may help during the winter months. Keep your receipt and if/when it dies, get a refund. akamainegrower referred to "iron clad" rhododendrons. Your Roseum elegans is one of them. They have the potential to get huge, though, so it isn't a great foundation plant. If you can plant it in a spot where it gets lots of summer light, but a building or evergreen gives it shade with the winter sun angle, you will be less likely to get winter-burned foliage. Planting a bit high in clay, and then putting soil around the raised part of the rootball and mulch on top of that will help prevent drainage issues, since as the chips start to rot the roots will grow into the nice organic rich soil that is to its liking. You will need to renew the mulch every year or two. I didn't plant this roseum elegans (planted by PO), but it is 4' from ground level to the window sill, 12' to the gutter and the center of the plant is 6' from the house. The plant is about 20 years old.

tree oracle, thanks so much for the detailed information about the Stewartstonian - very convincing. As a new gardener with a large property, I'm interested in non-fussy plants and it sure sounds like a better bet than the Hino azaleas. I also appreciate the advice about waiting til spring, underscored by ginny's advice to study the sun before I plant. So I'm going to take all this advice and wait til spring. I think I've been having one of those how-much-can-I-get-done-before-the-end-of-the-season frenzies and that's pretty silly. Of course I could get into even more trouble in the spring when I see all those plants in bloom and remember George's gorgeous photo . . . .:)

Bear in mind that online reviews usually number a handful, so it's hard to determine quality based on reviews. Faucetdirect.com has lots of rods. Brass rods are the most expensive. I bought stainless steel. The Kohler rods would have been my first choice, but my shower is 58", and theirs and many others start at 60". I had to buy Moen and it does look nice. We have good ventilation so I don't think rust will be a problem. Location: Once you have the rod and shower curtain, you'll figure it out pretty quickly. Most shower curtains are 70-72" long. Leaking: Curved rods won't prevent it. I bought a shower curtain liner at BB&B that has suction cups along the sides. Shower curtains: JC Penney, Macy's, Kohl's, BB&B, Pottery Barn, Croscill.com, Overstock.com, etc. I've looked at hundreds and haven't found what I'm looking for. Most look pretty chintzy imo.

I ordered undercabinet fluorescent lights from CSN Lighting last July, and had a couple of problems with the order. First their website listed one price for the units, but when I select the items and proceded to the checkout, a different (and of course higher) price was used for calculating the total. Then, when I called to get the price problem straightened out, I specifically asked whether fluorescent tubes were included with the lights since the website said (and still to this day says) "This undercabinet fluorescent light bar is the latest in undercabinet lighting, complete with energy efficient T5 fluorescent lamps." which really suggests that the lamps would be included. Whereas the PDF specifications file from the lamp manufacturer noted that the lamps were not included. So, the person I talked to checked and said that the fluorescent tubes would be included with the lamps. When the shipment arrived, no fluorescent tubes. After several subsequent calls to them I was unable to get the matter straightened out, so I ordered the tubes from elsewhere and have decided to not give any more business to CSN Lighting (or any of the dozens of other CSN stores) My main lighting for the room, I ordered monorail track lighting from Arcadian lighting, and had a much better online shopping experience. They honored their 110% price match guarantee without batting an eyelash, and the person I dealt with there (Tony Lin) was extremely helpful. The order was shipped with two incorrect items, and Tony noticed it before the package arrived, and immediately shipped a separate package with the right items, and a prepaid shipping label to return the wrong items.