Perhaps, azaleas (Rhododendron spp.) offer the broadest color array of any shrub category in the spring garden. Very few public or private gardens display azaleas better than Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA. In late March, Jane and I enjoyed a 2-day visit at Callaway.

We arrived to catch the early blooming azalea sequence and were not disappointed. Vivid reds, pinks, and whites surrounded us in Callaway’s Azalea Bowl and Overlook Azalea Garden. Azalea series labelled Kurume, Glendale, Girard, Encore, and a lovely white cultivar labeled ‘H.H.Hume’ were stunning. The pale pink native Piedmont deciduous azaleas (R. canescens) were also starting to open. Azalea bushes in the hundreds were in bloom and many thousands more awaiting their turn over the five week of Callaway’s Annual Azalea Festival.

'H. H. Hume'

Many early flowering perennials, woodland beauties, shrubs and trees joined the spring floral chorus. To list just a very few: Oriental cherries, ornamental pears, dogwood, forsythia, several viburnum species, trilliums, Jack in the Pulpits, woodland poppies, and Lenten roses. Hundreds of Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) and (A. japonicum) complimented the azaleas. Azaleas and Japanese maples do make a perfect pair.

Not a gardener? Callaway is a visual masterpiece with hundreds of acres to be enjoyed by outdoor and sports enthusiast from golfing, tennis, swimming, biking, hiking, and fishing. We also stopped at the Sibley Horticultural Center and Day Butterfly Center at Callaway. A Birds of Prey show is presented daily at the Discovery Center Amphitheater.

You may pre-register for a scheduled cooking or gardening class. There are additional workshops held throughout the year. Several moderately priced restaurants are on the property or in nearby towns. For further information go to the Callaway Gardens website:  www.callawaygardens.com