The beauty and extravagance of azaleas

 "If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the field has power to move you, if the simple things in Nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive."

Eleanora Duse

I love this time of year in Charleston when Spring in all its extravagant beauty bestows its gifts on a winter-weary souls.  During an all-too brief window of opportunity we can now exult in the rebirth and rejuvenation of the land this Spring.   One of the richest gifts in our part of the world is the annual profusion of blooms — reds, pinks, whites and shades in between — of azaleas.  In my humble opinion there is not a more gorgeous display of Nature’s wonder than  gardens, streets, front yards, and woodland paths alive and pulsating with the colors of this remarkable shrub.

When I was growing up in the late 50s, we lived in a wood-frame duplex apartment neighborhood called "Azalea Gardens."  When we moved to the West Bank of the Mississippi River in suburban New Orleans in 1961 we planted azaleas in our back yard, and years later they had grown to rather prodigious sizes, and each March we’d be delighted and amazed by the show of blooms on those huge plants.  All over New Orleans, and now, at this moment, all over Charleston, and at the gardens and parks, azaleas are at the peak of their bloom.  I rushed over to Charles Towne Landing at noon during my lunch hour yesterday and was dazzled by the display.  What a wonderland, a feast for the eyes.

Here is a set of some of my favorite azalea photos taken over the past couple of weeks.   The last photos in the set were taken yesterday at Charles Towne Landing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camas/sets/72157629267243840/