The azaleas in Charleston, SC are blooming like crazy right now. They truly are a wonderful mix of pink perfection (various shades of pinks, as well as white). We live in an older neighborhood and most yards have azaleas, they don’t always bloom at the same time, but when they do – Lookout! It’s stunning!

Azaleas, most of the year are a ubiquitous shrub with green leaves. New growth is usually a brighter green. We get buds and then blooms, then wilted blooms. This is the point to cut back your azalea if you wish to. If you wait until too late you risk not having blooms the following year (#beentheredonethat) – so the rule of thumb is to trim after blooming.

Another rule of thumb is that it’s ok to cut back 1/3 of the shrub without harm to the plant. We’ve gone even farther and they were fine. Azaleas can get leggy and thin. They aren’t as pretty when this happens. If you do something shocking, like cut them back, they come back stronger and thicker. It may look drastic when you do it, but they grow quickly and are back to normal in no time. I think this spring we will be cutting back a majority of ours.

When I look back over my posts on Instagram or Facebook I can see that I post a LOT of flowers. I love them. Inside, outside, I really don’t care where they are, I absolutely love flowers. You can never have too many, am I right?

Happy Monday, y’all!

✍️ Until next time…

📸 Image: Barbara Stroud (me!)