last weekend...

... when I was volunteering at the plant sale at Callaway Gardens, the native azaleas were just beginning to bloom. There were places where a number of them were planted together, and certain types were fully open. Gorgeous. And other places where there were plants with dozens of buds,  showing just enough color to know how delicious they would look in another ten days or so.

There are a number of different varieties, most of which have likely been propagated and deliberately planted in various places to appear naturalized in the wild. In a remarkable variety of colors, in addition to the ones remembered from childhood in the piney woods of south Georgia that were pink.
Similar to the ones in the two top photos, in my memory, growing unhindered in the under-story of tall pines among the palmettos.

At Callaway, the colors appear in sequence through the blooming season. Bright shades that are so eye catching out int the woods, illuminating the landscape. Brilliant rusty red, flame orange, pink and yellow. I am not knowledgeable about the names, but think all the colors are native to the southeast, and can now be found in commercial nurseries. There was a grower at the plant sale last weekend who lives in Harris County, specializes in natives plants, including the many colors of the azaleas. He had a booth that was very busy the two days I was there, constantly calling the nursery workers back on the farm to deliver another truck load of plants as the selection sold down. Likely that he supplies nurseries through out the southern states, and probably does a good business on the Internet.