The last of two late season AZALEA shrubs in my gardens is just about done blossoming. I enjoy their colors so much that it is hard to imagine that until eight years ago I had not a single one of these lovely long-lived very fragrant shrubs in my gardens.

Known as the 'Royalty of the Garden' AZALEAS belong to the genus RHODODENDRON which includes more than 800 species and 10,000 named varieties. Interestingly, in addition to being renowned for its beauty, the AZALEA is also highly toxic and were once so infamous for their toxicity that to receive a bouquet of their flowers in a black vase was a well-known death threat.

The pretty pink/lavender AZALEA in the image here sits right next to a very large peachy-orange one.....they make a beautiful combination. On the afternoon I took this photo, however, really wanted to capture the lovely color and sparkly look of the petals of this pink/lavender variety known as 'Light of my Life'