Rhododendron austrinum JC Raulston Arboretum honest flowers on a graceful

honest flowers on a graceful frame

thriving in the heat and lean soils of a xeric or Mediterranean-style garden

far larger and paler than the deep maroon bells of the common pawpaw

so cardinal flower is a plant to admire rather than eat

Rhododendron austrinum JC Raulston Arboretum honest flowers on a gracefulRhododendron austrinum, the Florida azalea, is among the earliest and most powerfully fragrant of all the wild deciduous azaleas of the Deep South. Native to the Florida Panhandle, southern Georgia, southern Alabama, and into Mississippi, the species haunts open pine woods, ravine slopes, and river bluffs, often growing in sandy, acidic ground beneath tall longleaf pines. The species name austrinum simply means southern, a fitting label for an azalea