Callaway Gardens (Part I): Azalea Bowl

Callaway Gardens was created for the purposes of protecting an endangered shrub, the azalea (plumleaf azalea 'Rhododendron prunifolium'). Today it is the largest azalea garden in the world encompassing 14,000 acres which includes walking paths, lakes, woodlands and flower trails. It was transformed into a place of beauty and relaxation from barren cotton fields in 1952.

The Azalea Bowl is a 40 acre garden within Callaway which is home to more than 3,400 hybrid and native azaleas. In spring each year it explodes into color.

It is a spectacular display of various shades of pink, purple, white, red and orange. Following are a series of photographs taken this past week. Unfortunately, the azaleas were not all marked so I am unable to provide the names of each of the azalea shrubs I photographed. I hope you will enjoy them for their blooms and color as much as I did.

 

 

 

In addition to the many azaleas there is an impressive 2,000 trees and shrubs that provide interesting foliage during the rest of the year when the azaleas are not blooming.

I would have never thought of combining the red leaves of the lace leaf maple with the pink azalea blooms but it works and actually made the leaves of the maple more pinkish looking.

 

 

"Every child ought to see something beautiful before he's six years old

—something he will remember all his life."

Carson Callaway

I hope you enjoyed this show of color. I will be posting more about my trip to the gardens. Next will be an education on a common fruit in the Horticulture Center.