A real case of rhododendron envy
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- June 8, 2021
- 716
Our house is suffering from a bad case of envy. A place down the street has an enormous rhododendron bush that is absolutely covered in blossoms. It is beautiful, and our house wants one and wants one now.
We went shopping for such a plant and found several, but none the size of the neighbors. When a plant is that large, it has an impressive root base and requires a great deal of effort and strength to dig it up. Taller Half has assured me he is unwilling to exert that much energy to dig up a plant that size. He has found a lovely rhododendron in a manageable size and is willing to apply his shovel to it and get it planted next to our house. It boasts several blooms, but it isn’t by any stretch of the imagination covered in blossoms.
We brought it home and presented it to our house, which showed very little enthusiasm. We planted it anyway and had to admit it was way too small for its setting. Off again we went to the nursery and brought home another rhododendron and planted it next to the first one. The two plants filled up the area beautifully, and our house looked very pleased. Thank goodness, as an unhappy house tends to be very expensive.
Now our house has informed us she really wants us to add a tree to her front lawn. She thinks a blue spruce would be lovely, and perhaps two would be even lovelier. She has emphasized her desires by drawing our attention to a leaking faucet. Needless to say, we are on the way to the nursery to look at little trees of the blue spruce variety. Trees are not cheap, but neither are plumbing leaks. My Taller Half has voted for the little trees, not the plumber.