Rivka's Azalea 2020-2025 Contest Entry

Cadillactaste

Neagari Gal
Messages
16,308
Reaction score
20,986
Location
NE Ohio: zone 4 (USA) lake microclimate
USDA Zone
5b
Yep, I knew you were a good one. That image search is basically the only useful thing they do.
I live very rural. I'm a pro at finding things using images. My SIL found a bed she loved. But it was in a magazine. No brand name or anything. I found it...then went further to find the best price. So yeah...I know how to search. 😉🙃 friend's seek me out too...when they seen something and can't find it.
 

Cadillactaste

Neagari Gal
Messages
16,308
Reaction score
20,986
Location
NE Ohio: zone 4 (USA) lake microclimate
USDA Zone
5b
Maybe if benefit. Judy has one she uses woos hardener on.
 

Cadillactaste

Neagari Gal
Messages
16,308
Reaction score
20,986
Location
NE Ohio: zone 4 (USA) lake microclimate
USDA Zone
5b
Where does woos come from?😜
🙃 I'm not sure. That was to be uses. The letters aren't even close to the keyboard for a fat finger poking wrong. Spell check must be having a bad day... wait...edit: woos/wood. That could be on my end. Side by side letters and hurrying to answer the phone...and entering before proof reading.
 

Rivka

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
384
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
USDA Zone
8b
Can’t seem to find the pictures now, but I repotted a few weeks ago to get a little more room and soil volume, and drainage to hopefully make consistent water management easier, dropped it into a Deep Anderson flat. It was amazing to see a great ball of fluffy fine roots where less than a year ago there was just the carnage from a impatient homeowner ripping it from the ground. It clearly pushed thru its horrible start as good as I could have possibly hoped.
So its repotted, switched over to a modified boon mix heavily cut with Kanuma. The old mix was really heavy with peat and while it may have been lovely and soft for all that fine new roots, the drainage was crappy as too I assume any hope of air exchange.
Its happily leafing out and I have shifted it off my main table so I don’t fuss with it.
 

Rivka

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
384
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
USDA Zone
8b
The Flamenco Dancers™️ have seemingly forgiven me
for their repotting and like their new digs. Watering it is so much leas stressful with the media draining nicely now. New tiny buds seem to appear every time I look at it and impress me by coming out of more and more places, this lovely azalea just wont be denied its place in the world.

After my previous posts on the subject, i did cut that chunky stump on the right further down to flow better and get out of the way of vigorous growth tucked behind it. I assume the cut will end up hiding in the foliage within the year. I will wait a year at least before I commit to stripping any bark from that trunkline, many many reasons, not the least of which is simply to make sure its dead as a doornail in the section first.
While the inch or so I cut back was dry wood and brown inner bark layers (it had been previously chopped back last May), considerably further down the line, there is still some green in the bark (discovered that when I made a small scrape during repotting 😞)
I like the new streamline profile it takes and maybe someday I’ll take a fine grinder and carve it smoother.
(the green highlighter in the first photo was me marking the current extent of the back budding. On the longer branches, its a good inch lower down than last years growth ❣️

31405EA2-C619-4E39-B40C-907BE4017897.jpeg4A55E4AD-D162-405A-A106-78615A57D6E5.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Rivka

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
384
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
USDA Zone
8b
Some Celebration and Treasures…

First the treasures, I have been painstakingly cleaning out around the twists and rolls of the nebari. I didn’t dare touch more than necessary when I was repotting in early March, since last year it has been so brutally ripped from the landscape, had so few roots, and was subjected to a sup par container; this time I was just wanting to gently place it in a broader flat with better drainage and back away slowly.
So now I’m sitting down with needle nose tweezer and brush and well aimed tiny water spray and cleaning it’s nooks. And wow, most of those “nooks” are actually beautiful coves and tunnels that had long ago filled in with find dirt and duff. Some of them appear to have formed via inosculation, while others are the remaining spaces of long ago dead branches. In either case, they clwaned out well and im sure are happier with fresh air and thankfully in the case of every deep one, a full flow thru opening now that the packed in duff is removed. There is only a few small spots where I’m wondering if water settles and I will watch them closely and see. Not sure of my options if it does. I have a few pictures of some of these lovely features along with the celebration of tiny tiny buds and the rest of spring growth.
2B1B2E8F-D509-4CBC-BD38-340475EFA4EE.jpegAFD39343-99F3-4CC2-ACE0-3BCC74E6F113.jpegA33D9CDF-A4DD-44C4-83EA-816941E0649A.jpeg66473753-DA74-4196-8211-A35C3A744738.jpegBE5D93F2-106C-4EEE-B23D-6110A208E26E.jpegBAB9C206-5E12-468B-B87A-5E5FEDEAD98C.jpegA9424C12-CEAB-4435-BFEE-27E7670E3F20.jpeg10154DC4-7F24-4E54-B5F8-826C9EC6DE27.jpeg4EF3C41B-2D06-4352-8839-7FF161596812.jpeg
 

Rivka

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
384
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
USDA Zone
8b
Just bursting with a late spring surge, the Pacific Northwest is such a great place for these plants and now that we are finally catching up on our rain around here, things just could not be better for growth, everything is green and lush. ❣️ Still finding new backbuds every few days it seems, comingvout lower and lower down the tall branching on the left. At some point if I am keeping to my oringial design plan, I will actually need to start rubbing a few of them off to keep the negative space I want. 8BE87102-D465-41F4-906C-9D3E19C2DB59.jpegC533A6D7-7612-40F0-8280-69919533C0EB.jpeg
 

Rivka

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
384
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
USDA Zone
8b
Gag, boy the thumbnails are a horrid resolution, glad the full images look nice still
 

Rivka

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
384
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
USDA Zone
8b
Well things are getting downright bushy around here and I feel i need to start deciding on wiring before things harden off. I have numerous spots where the new growth is pushing 6” long!
Its crazy I’m at this point with this little street rat turned princess.
66D94E23-456E-4D53-8A3F-1055936AF16B.jpeg
 

Deep Sea Diver

Masterpiece
Messages
4,495
Reaction score
9,390
Location
Bothell, WA
USDA Zone
8b
Looks good!

imho It’s starting to get late for serious wiring of azaleas. The sap flow is really cranking now. It might be best to wait until late fall once the sap flow slows down.

Yet your tree, your call 😎

Cheers
DSD sends
 

Rivka

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
384
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
USDA Zone
8b
Thats why i check in here! Good yo know. Maybe ill just do i light bend on a few going seriously awol and wait for the rest
 

Deep Sea Diver

Masterpiece
Messages
4,495
Reaction score
9,390
Location
Bothell, WA
USDA Zone
8b
Great! This is a good time to go over the branches you have, identify which you really are going to use, let these extend and remove the others.

It might be a cool idea to take some cuttings and grow these out for future use, if you haven’t already.

cheers
DSD sends
 

AnutterBonsai

Shohin
Messages
268
Reaction score
231
Location
Houston,TX
USDA Zone
9A
Looks lovely by the day! What are you fertilizing with? Do you keep it in semi shade?
 

Rivka

Shohin
Messages
383
Reaction score
384
Location
Pacific Northwest, USA
USDA Zone
8b
Looks lovely by the day! What are you fertilizing with? Do you keep it in semi shade?
It’s getting a well rounded light dose of bio gold. It lives in an area where it gets dappled bright sun for half the day, an occasional hour of sun and always afternoon bright shade. I have rhododendrons all over my property and overwhelmingly bright dappled shade wins their favor.
 
Top Bottom