Pretty and Pink
Posted: March 18, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Azaleas, Chinese Fringe Tree, Formosa Azaleas, Gulf Coast gardening, Loropetalum, nature photography, Pipe-vine Swallowtail, Southern Gardening 20 Comments
I was amazed that my Azaleas were so full of flowers this year. They have not looked well most of the year and we had water restrictions over the summer. Of course, they are not as nice as my six-foot-tall ones that died.
Every flower bud opened making the shrub lush with pink flowers.
I had been watching this Pipe-Vine Swallowtail butterfly in the backyard looking for a flower(they all froze) to feed on. It took a couple of passes by the sugar feeder, but it did not know how to use it. I was happy to see it feeding on the Azales.
Many years ago I had a Loropetalum struggling in the backyard. It had some life left, so I planted it in the front with a little prayer. It ended up living and growing 10 feet tall. Normally, they are trimmed to 4 feet and kept bushy.
The Loropetalum is very graceful with fluffy pink flowers and is also known as the Chinese Fringe Flower.
Automatic Gardening & Real Gluten Free Food 
Gorgeous colour for your spring garden! 😃
I was very pleased this year.
so the butterfly enjoys the blooms
What a lovely bush. I’m glad it made a comeback. Our one azalea in our front yard is in full bloom now, but the azalea garden in the backyard is patiently waiting for a bit more warmth.
Azaleas do well in this area.
Beautiful azaleas and nice to see the butterfly found sustenance!
Thank you. It’s been a good year for them.
I like tree Loropetalum. Mine were that big in Atlanta and a pain to maintain. Great butterfly shot. I have missed so many of those! Are the azaleas Formosan?
I have done nothing to Loropetalum. It was one of the early ones and they had to be trimmed several times a year to keep them as shrubs. got tired of that. Yes, they are Formosan.
My kind of plant, do nothing and beautiful. It has been so long ago I had the Loropetalum they were saying they got four feet tall…ha!
I replaced mine and all the new ones died. I did some research and apparently the main nursery had a disease. As I’m not a pro, could this happen?
Yes..I wonder what disease? I don’t buy plants at the HD here because they have root rot often probably from unclean benches.
They didn’t say and it was a few years ago. our famous Antique Rose Emporium also got some kind of disease in his roses and he was trying gene editing. Of course I bought one before I knew and it promptly died.
There is a lot of bleach involved in successful horticulture. Some of this gene editing, I am not so sure it is nice to try and fool Mother Nature.
I think you’ve solved a ‘mystery’ for me. I’m sure now that the landscaping shrubs all around town are Loropetalum. Most are only three feet tall, but my friends and I have asked one another time after time, “What are those things?” For whatever reason, none of us ever has made more than a cursory effort to ID them, but today I’ll stop in front of my apartment office and take a pic of the ones there. They really are quite pretty; I had no idea they could grow to the size of a tree.
They have small red leaves and are evergreen. I would say they are Loropetalum.
I just walked down to the office and snapped a pic with my PictureThis app. Sure enough: Loropetalum chinese var. rubrum. The flowers have stopped blooming now, but those reddish maroon leaves are gorgeous.
They are a nice addition to the landscape.
Love your azaleas and the loropetalum! I really love nicely maintained loropetalums, too. The ones that are allowed to get tall.
I had to trim my original loropetalum several times a year to keep them from growing 10 feet tall.