Sunday Bushes

The above bushes are a type of azalea named 'Elsie Lee', and we have two of them in our planter area as you drive up to our home.  I LOVE them, not only for their light lavender color, but because they have double blossoms which makes them appear carnation-like.

The Elsie Lee azaleas grow tall....four or five feet tall, and not like a low bush as many azaleas do.  I purchased another one today and planted it in front of the house for more color there in the springtime.  

My husband planted two azalea bushes, the low to the ground type, last year.

You can see that the one on the left has blossoms.

The one on the right is stubby on the ends with no leaves and has been deemed DEAD by my husband, so I purchased a new azalea bush for him today which he planted.

Here is a photo of the blossoms on the one that survived.

*image from HERE*

The one I purchased today to replace the deader than a doorknob bush, will look like the above azalea,

and is named Azalea Encore Autumn Amethyst.

This azalea should bloom twice a year.

Let's just hope it survives the winters we have been having.

*image credit here*

Last year we planted two lilac bushes and one did not survive the summer, while the second bush, although quite small, was actually putting out blossoms!

The harshness of our winter did it in and it was nothing more than dead sticks this spring,

so we pulled it up today and replaced it with a

Viburnum Opulus Cranberry Bush which has white blooms.

This is in the area where the gas tank sits and it needs to be hidden with shrubs, so I was truly hoping that the lilac bush would do that for us.

Nope.

*image credit here*

The Opulous Cranberry Bush should look similar to the above photo as it matures.  

The lady at the store said it is a very hardy plant and does well through the winter months.

We shall see.

So, how did you spend your Sunday?