Azalea 1

Varieties of Hardy Mum

Tulips

In Chinese culture, the azalea is known as "thinking of home bush" (sixiang shu), and is immortalized in the poetry of Du Fu.

The azalea is also one of the symbols of the city of São Paulo, Brazil.[7]

Azaleas and rhododendrons were once so infamous for their toxicity that to receive a bouquet of their flowers in a black vase was a well-known death threat.

In addition to being renowned for its beauty, the azalea is also highly toxic—it contains andromedotoxins in both its leaves and nectar, including honey from the nectar.[9] Bees are deliberately fed on Azalea/Rhododendron nectar in some parts of Turkey, producing a mind-altering, potentially medicinal, and occasionally lethal honey known as "mad honey".[10] Azalea is dangerous to pets, as, if consumed, the toxins within the plant tissue can cause central nervous system depression, which in turn can lead to multi-organ failure. Symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, laryngeal edema and heart rhythm disturbances, which can lead to complete cardiac arrest and therefore death. Acute kidney failure may also occur.

Azalea leafy gall can be particularly destructive to azalea leaves during the early spring. Hand picking infected leaves is the recommended method of control.[3]

They can also be subject to Phytophthora root rot in moist, hot conditions.[4]

Azaleas share the economically important disease Phytophthora cinnamomi with more than 3000 other plants

According to azalea historian Fred Galle, in the United States, Azalea indica (in this case, the group of plants called Southern indicas) was first introduced to the outdoor landscape in the 1830s at the rice plantation Magnolia-on-the-Ashley in Charleston, South Carolina. From Philadelphia, where they were grown only in greenhouses, John Grimke Drayton (Magnolia's owner) imported the plants for use in his estate garden. With encouragement from Charles Sprague Sargent from Harvard's Arnold Arboretum, Magnolia Gardens was opened to the public in 1871, following the American Civil War. Magnolia is one of the oldest public gardens in America. Since the late 19th century, in late March and early April, thousands visit to see the azaleas bloom in their full glory.

Underwater Beauty