Am I the only one who hates azaleas?

[Anonymous]

I think they can be pretty in certain settings. I think the white are the most classic. The bubblegum pink are hideous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We drove past our soon to be new house and saw that the entire front yard is various bushes of different colored azaleas. I hate them. My husband loves them. Am I only an island here?

I love that this is the style in the post-World War II Maryland suburbs of DC. As though the azalea salesman had gone door-to-door down the block, and everybody had ordered one of everything.

I don't know how I would feel about this if it were my front yard, though. I don't have any azaleas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not alone. I despise them. When not in bloom, they are a shapeless, ugly mess. We ripped out a bunch of them when we bought our house.

You have to trim and shape them. I had lovely perfectly rectangular, mature bushes at our last house. I'll get the bushes at my current house in shape in no time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not alone. I despise them. When not in bloom, they are a shapeless, ugly mess. We ripped out a bunch of them when we bought our house.

You have to trim and shape them. I had lovely perfectly rectangular, mature bushes at our last house. I'll get the bushes at my current house in shape in no time.

Seriously? Are you over 65? Whenever I see this look I assume the house must be inhabited by senior citizens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not just you, unless you're me. Too brazen color, and there's always one section or plant that's a bit off in color and everything looks like crap.

Hate them. Old fashioned and get ratty looking quite easily. Seem like a sensitive planting.

I spent far too much money on eight azalea bushes when I had my yard pro landscaped. Sold to a builder five years later, so I dug up each one and transplanted at my new house. Bushes lived on there another five years, with diminishing blooms and health seasonally. Last spring, I dug up each and every one, tossed and roto tilled their former home and planted a perennial garden. Much prettier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not alone. I despise them. When not in bloom, they are a shapeless, ugly mess. We ripped out a bunch of them when we bought our house.

You have to trim and shape them. I had lovely perfectly rectangular, mature bushes at our last house. I'll get the bushes at my current house in shape in no time.

Seriously? Are you over 65? Whenever I see this look I assume the house must be inhabited by senior citizens.

+1!

[Anonymous]

Azaleas were almost the only shrubs around our house when we bought it, along with nandinas and invasive bush honeysuckle (got rid of it fast). I have kept most of them so far because there was enough empty space to fill, but I don't like them too much (especially the bubblegum pink ones), and consider most of them placeholders for something better in the future. Will keep some but not all. I think too many azaleas show that the owner of the house isn't really interested in gardening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not alone. I despise them. When not in bloom, they are a shapeless, ugly mess. We ripped out a bunch of them when we bought our house.

You have to trim and shape them. I had lovely perfectly rectangular, mature bushes at our last house. I'll get the bushes at my current house in shape in no time.

Seriously? Are you over 65? Whenever I see this look I assume the house must be inhabited by senior citizens.

+1!

35! But I learned lots of gardening techniques from my Grandma.

[Anonymous]

I think they're amazing. The first time I came to DC as an adult, they were in bloom and I was astounded by them. Many people don't buy the right size azalea for the location and I don't like when they're too big for the location. But, if you buy the right size and the right colors, I never tire of them - except for the shaped ones. Those are a travesty. The haters should go to the National Arboretum when the azaleas are in peak bloom (like next weekend) You'll see what they should look like. Amazing. I mix them into my landscaping and never notice the 'scraggliness' of them.

[Anonymous]

Ugh so ugly. I can't stand them. This time of year, they're pretty. Then they spend several weeks covered in dead flowers looking particularly hideous. After that, they are just an awkward and ugly bush for the rest of the year.

[Anonymous]

Two years ago for Mother's Day, my boys made me this heart out of azalea petals. Best gift I could have asked for -

[Anonymous]

To hate azaleas is to hate life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Azaleas were almost the only shrubs around our house when we bought it, along with nandinas and invasive bush honeysuckle (got rid of it fast). I have kept most of them so far because there was enough empty space to fill, but I don't like them too much (especially the bubblegum pink ones), and consider most of them placeholders for something better in the future. Will keep some but not all. I think too many azaleas show that the owner of the house isn't really interested in gardening.

Same here. I like them right now when it bloom, but then they're kinda scraggly and ugly the rest of the year. We've pulled out one that wasn't doing well but have left the rest in for the time being- several are quite large and will be a bear to dig up! But I want more variety.

[Anonymous]

I just don't like the really bright red ones. Otherwise, beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Azaleas and marigolds are dated.