My Exbury Love Affair

Some plants dazzle us with their brilliant Fall color.  Some are alluring with their full Summer blossoms.  Still others brighten our winter views with interesting and colorful winter branches or berries. And of course we have the spring charmers with their delicate, fragrant flowers that pull us out of winter.  Filling your garden with seasonal show-stoppers is one way to make sure your landscape is always interesting and beautiful.

However, there is another category of plants:  the Plants Who Have It All.  Some plants are so amazing they offer color and interest in EVERY season.  The Exbury azalea is one of those plants.   In the Spring, the blossoms are so luscious, full and colorful, they will literally stop you in your tracks.  And most of these plants are sweetly scented too.  One Exbury azalea will add a soft, subtle fragrance to your spring garden.

After the flowers fade and fall away, the light green leaves make for a beautiful summer plant.  And as summer gives way to Fall, the leaves turn from green to rich shades of copper, orange and scarlet.

It is true that this plant is a bare branched plant through the winter, being that it is deciduous.  But the branches are interesting, and the flower buds begin to swell as early as January.  So it is a fairly year-round performer.

I have one Exbury azalea in my garden and it is front and center.  It is blooming right now and I am just as smitten with it's pretty flowers now as I was when I first bought it 15 years ago.  Oh, and if you asked me it's name, I'm afraid I'd have to give you it's made up name.  I bought it after my first baby was born and my brain, being so sleep-deprived and smitten with my new daughter, had no room left for cataloging plant names.  Most of the time, I simply call it "Beautiful".