Azalea 2016

In the last post, from last year, I wrote about how the azalea I planted in my courtyard inexplicably produced zero blooms that spring. This year I'm glad to report that it did bloom - though minimally. There were about eight to ten flowers on the whole plant, rather unevenly distributed, and for some reason they all hung towards the ground. Is this a "weeping azalea?"

All I can think of that may have caused the lack of blooms last year is fertilization. The spring after I applied fertilizer is when there were no blooms. The fertilizer was specifically for azaleas, and organic; but perhaps it caused an adverse reaction anyway. Thinking this might be the case, I didn't fertilize after last spring. Maybe the restricted blooming this year is indication that the fertilizer was a problem, and recovery is in process.

And again I'm fascinated by how accurate a symbol this azalea seems to be for my extracurricular creative production over the past year: pretty, but sad and few.