I’ve been saving this pic for just the right day and today’s it! This wild rhododendron of the Pine Barrens is known by a few names: Swamp Azalea, Swamp Honeysuckle, or my personal favorite: Clammy Azalea. The flowers are very fragrant and covered with tiny hairs that give it the *clammy* name. They are said to fill the gap between when Swamp Magnolia and Sweet Pepperbush bloom, filling Pine Barrens swamps with fragrance from May through September. I didn’t find Swamp Magnolia in bloom this Spring, but Sweet Pepperbush was just waking up on my last visit to the Barrens.
The weather here in NJ has been lovely so far this season; today is the first day that it’s been clammy and summerlike. How’s the weather by you? Are you looking forward to the heat and humidity?
I like the name “clammy azalea.” It sums up the season pretty well.
How’s the weather by you?
Clammy.
Are you looking forward to the heat and humidity?
Definitely not. Mid-June to late August is the worst season in the DC area.
Today in central PA has also been clammy–tooo tooo humid for me.
I am not a hot weather lover–give me cold anyday. In fact, I have written to local weather forecasters saying, please don’t describe hot weather is good–some of us don’t like it. (They probably think I am a little crazy!)
I’ve got a specimen of this plant in my backyard. It’s a local ecotype, propagated from local stock by the Staten Island Greenbelt and distributed through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Last year it had a single bloom, with that intoxicating scent. This year the top of the plant is covered with buds. I’m hoping that they’re flower buds. Knowing that they’re blooming now in NJ, I’ll be keeping an eye out!
84% humidity right now.
Why anyone would name such a pretty flower “clammy” anything beats the heck out of me. Little hairs or no, it’s too pretty to be associated with all that the word “clammy” implies! 🙂
John: Last night I had dinner by the ocean and there was a wonderful sea breeze! No such thing tonight.
KGMom: I don’t like the heat (or humidity) either! It’s just so hard to be comfortable.
I’ll take a late September/October day over this any day!
Xris: Lucky you! The scent is wonderful and I actually mistook the blooms for honeysuckle when I first saw them.
I found them blooming in Lebanon State Forest in mid-June – hope yours will bloom nicely in the city this year.
Bunnygirl: We’re at about 79% humidity, but the temp is pretty cool this evening, so guess I shouldn’t complain!
Clammy.
Ugg.
The only good thing about humidity is that my hair curls.
But I drip sweat when it’s hot and sticky..
Ugg again.
But I noticed that the temps here were HOTTER before the first day of Summer. Weather is weird.
Ugg.
Clammy azalea — lovely plant with a most offputting name.
The weather here is lovely. Getting up to about 85 in Boulder Creek these days — no humidity to speak off. Cool breezes and it’s cooling down to the low 50s at night. Lovely. In Watsonville, where I teach this summer, it’s like 75 during the day so even better as far as I’m concerned!
Looking forward to the heat and humidity? Um, well, we’ve been at 95-98 degrees for weeks and weeks, but with no rain, it’s been less humid. When it does come a cloud burst… whoa nellie… you can ring out your shirt after being out on the deck for a minute or two. Welcome to summer in the South. Pass the iced tea please.
That’s a hoot – the word ‘clammy’ applied to azaleas – so . . . ‘indelicate’ :0)
I’m in Donna’s camp. I’d out-law heat and humidity if it were in my power. Currently it’s cool and a little damp on the Cape. I’ve got a sweater on. I know – poor me ;0D
Beautiful flower! Here in Ontario we have had a pattern of 3-4 days air flow from Hudson’s Bay…lovely and cool, followed by 3-4 days of southerly flow from the Gulf of Mexico…hot and humid with lots of smog. The day the flow shifts we get thunderstorms. I don’t mind the heat but I don’t like the smog.
ruth
Lovely flower.
HATE humidity.
My biggest problem with humidity is my hair. No matter what I do, I still look like a damp Yorkie.
It’s hot and clammy here.
i sweetie, ive missed your beautifyl phtos..and lol at your mosquito commrnt- they LOVE humidiyty..me, not so much ;}
back soon…C
I’m with Mary..when it’s humid my hair goes flat and I can’t do a thing with it when it’s humid. Now if I had Susan’s problem (curly hair) I’d be a happy camper…
Hot in southern Maine today. I hate humidity!! We are under a stagnant air alert, whatever that is. Maybe what they callled an bad ozone day last year.
Hot weather usually doesn’t last more than 3 days up here, thank goodness. I just went to get popsicles for my husband and the clerk said that was the big seller of the day.
May and October are my two favorite months.-I’ll pass on the “Clammy” weather.-It’s a nice time to visit the shoreline though-minus the crowds.
How’s the weather by you?
Hideously humid and hot.
Are you looking forward to the heat and humidity?
no! I hate both. I’m definitely a cool and dry weather person. I’m not used to the Texas-like humidity and heat after being up here for four years. Ugh.