THIS beautiful flower is what my youngest (12 yr old) daughter got me for Mother's Day. I've never owned a Rhododendron before so I've had to study up on them. This particular one is a County of York variety, which is a hybrid, and I've learned it can grow up to 18 FEET! Holy COW! I've never known a flower to be able to grow that big! Did you? do any of you own one of these types of rhodies, a County of York? does it actually get that tall and how much does it grow each year? I'm so curious. The hubs and I relocated a 2nd yr bush rose the other day that's at the side of the house (the opposite side of the cranky old man) where it should get the required amt of shade and sun, near the newly attached and working rain barrel (remember, it's the one that we bought over a yr ago? lol I got him to finally hook it up as a Mother's Day gift). Next to that, I'm planting 2 Japanese ferns. These ferns don't mind cold weather at all, thankfully, and will survive down to about 25 below if needed, so they're perfect for the midwest. I've told my youngest that she's given me a challenge, for I have no idea about rhodies, but that's a good thing, it keeps my gardening brain spinning. The white in this flower is stark, shining bright, solid WHITE! Whiter than my white heirloom rose even. Astounding. And, I have to water it each day! It literally takes a LOT of water. I've put an aqua-globe in it, but it drains it each day, so it doesn't matter if I do that or water it by hand.
Now, look at THIS beauty:
THIS is a Cinnamon Girl miniature rose, that stands at about 24". THIS is what my oldest (17 yr old) daughter gave me for Mother's Day. This photo really doesn't do this rose justice. I've GOT to get this girl planted because I just can't wait to watch her flourish. We'll be working on the garden extention hopefully next weekend. This rose will be along the fenceline of the new extension, as I have other roses along the fenceline of the current garden space. The roses I have now are longstem roses, one read, one pink, and 2 newly planted roses that have not established yet, but are in the pink family. When asked, my daughter said she picked this rose because it was a color unlike any that I have, and she's right. The creamy centers pop out at you like nothing you can imagine. Breathtaking.
I just had to share my Mother's Day gifts with everyone, I knew you'd enjoy seeing them. I know it's been a couple of weeks since then, but I've been a bit behind on everything. But no worries, I've not forgotten about my Lavender Cove, blog, eBay, OR Etsy. It'going strong, and the latter two will be up and running soon.
2 comments:
Oh, wow, those are beautiful flowers, Debbie. You're a lucky Mom to have such sweet, thoughtful daughters.
I don't know anything about Rhododendron, but looking at the leaves....I have a plant that keeps trying to grow beside the front front porch and my hubby keeps cutting it down.
The leaves kind of resemble my Magnolia tree so I always thought it might be an off-shoot.
But looking at your picture, they also seem to resemble the leaves of your Rhodo, so I'll have to check and see if maybe that's what my plant is.
Yes, Melissa, I'm a very lucky mom, even tho their teenagers, they're good kids and don't give me some of the problems that some kids give their parents, so I consider myself doubly lucky. And that would make sense too, by the front porch, because it would make sense that someone would plant it there. Maybe get the hubs not to mow it for a month or so and see what it does. There's some Rhodie varieties that don't get so tall, but maby knee to waste high, so it could be any of those. But, like you said, it could be a Magnolia shoot, as well...it would be fun to see, I love lil experiments like that.
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