Flower break!

Flower break!

The mountain laurels are blooming. So are the azaleas (down on the ground out of shot) and rhododendrons. I should probably fertilize them, but they’re native plants in a fairly native environment (our yard is oak/pine forest, though we’re outside of the technical Pinelands) and are mostly doing fine on their own.

The irises are non-native, and I guess I should dig up these beds and separate them since they barely bloom. I have no idea how long they’ve been here unmaintained; I suspect it’s at least ten years. The deer mowed them almost to the ground this year, which is unusual but the last couple years have been mast years for some of the oak species and I guess the deer are a little overpopulated. I was afraid they wouldn’t bloom, but then this one showed up and there are four or five more buds which is about the best that bed ever does.