Hi everyone!
Today, I want to share with you some pictures I took last week. At the moment, I feel so overburdened by everything, that I need to focus on the positive and beautiful things around me.
Behind the house, there's a pretty big garden with an enormous rhododendron. It's taller than I am and equally wide. The plant is actually not 'mine', since we live in an apartment building, but it is right outside our apartment's balcony and I've been seeing it every day for several years now. It's also the place where I lay out the food for my little #FeatheredFriends.
In each year's flowering season, I am fascinated. I love the color of the hundreds of blossoms it produces, and I like watching the bumblebees they attract. Must be dozens every day the plant is in full bloom.
Do you find the bumblebees in the next pictures? It was very hard to capture them on camera!
I wasn't expecting so many blossoms this year
This year is very special, since I actually believed the rhododendron was going to die. I discovered lots of dry branches in it a while ago. Additionally, the green and scarlet leafhopper (an insect with the botanical name 'Graphocephala coccinea') seemed to have infected the plant with a fungus.
By Kaldari - Own work, Public Domain, Link
The female rhododendron cicadas, as they're also called, cut open the plant's buds to place their eggs inside. This is not problematic, as it does no substantial harm to the rhododendron. The problem is that they transmit a fungus called 'Pycnostysanus azaleae' (also known as 'Seifertia azaleae'). When the plant is infected, the buds start to die and will eventually fall off.
By Björn S... - Seifertia azaleae, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link
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All of this happens in September when the rhododendron produces buds for the next flowering season. I was devastated when I saw this. The janitor company that actually should take care of the garden, never spent one minute to take care of the plant, so I did. I bought fertilizer and watered it regularly. Still, I did not have too much hope that it would survive...
Surprise, surprise
You probably can imagine my surprise when the rhododendron started to bloom this year. It is still not totally healthy, but it looks way better than the two years before - I am delighted about that!
All of the pictures of the rhododendron itself were taken by me with my smartphone camera - taking into account that it's an Honor 7X I bought two years ago, I am pretty content with the quality of the pics.
What do you think? Have any suggestions or tips for me?
As always, thanks for your time and attention, and have a wonderful rest of your day!
Cheers, Kat 🖖