My first Deciduous Azalea !

Living in the Atlanta area, I've fallen into the rat race trap of always being in a hurry. I rarely take the time to stop and really look at other homes' landscaping. I really long for a slower paced life!

For years, as I've hurried along in my rush to get to wherever I'm going. I leave our subdivision, turn left, go down the hill and around the curve to the right. At the point of the bend in the road, where it's almost too dangerous to stop, there's a drive on right with a home that sets back about 200 yards. There's nothing really special about the small, single story home, but there is one feature on the edge of their drive that has caught my eyes year after year.

As I zoom past this driveway I catch a beautiful flash of orange from around a six foot tall "tree" and I've always wondered what kind of tree has orange foliage. I've always wondered, but have never stopped to ask the owner, what kind of tree this isroad that goes into our subdivision, I have always seen and admired (if not envied) the beautiful orange "tree"

This year, while watching an online video on how to trim azalea, the instructor had the common evergreen azalea and was showing how that by trimming it correctly after the blooms drop, you can product a much fuller nicer plant.

Then, to my amazement, he brought out the "other kind" of azalea; a deciduous azalea that was in bloom and it was orange! I'd finally found that orange tree that I'd been wondering about for years.

Just to confirm my suspicions, with my wife in the car with me, we pull into the driveway of the and sure enough, it was an azalea.

With this knowledge, I'm on a quest to find an orange deciduous azalea for my yard. My first stop? A little place down the road a bit that has some of the best prices and largest variety of plants in the area: Grower's Outlet in Snellville.

So on Saturday, we go down and finally squeeze into the parking lot, grab a cart and begin to get sick at the inflated prices that we'd paid for things at the local nursery as compared to their prices. These prices were unbeatable. We ended up getting several ground covers to work into some spots that we needed finishing out, but no deciduous azalea. We stop at some other places when we're out during the next week or so with no luck.

Finally, Sunday afternoon on the way to meet some friends for lunch, we drive by a local nursery called Randy' Perennials & Water Gardens because they are known for having specialty items.

My wife sets in the car because she knows what I'm looking for. I ask one of the workers and she points me to a group of 6 foot tall trees and there it is... one of only two orange ones.

The thing I didn't realize is that deciduous azaleas smell incredible, very sweet, reminding me of the fragrance of honeysuckles.

Finally, on the trip back home, we return to Randy's and snag the nicest one of the bunch. The incredible aroma of the freshly opened blooms filled our SUV; it was almost intoxicating!

After planting, it bloomed for a few more days and seems to be doing well in the shade of a birch and redbud tree. I so look forward t next spring's blooming of my first deciduous azalea.