Cold Winter leads to late Azalea Blooms in much of the South

The long, cold winter has had an effect on this year's azalea blooms across much of the South, pushing them back later into spring than normal.

Usually the blooms at places like Honor Heights Park, home of the Muskogee Azalea Festival in Oklahoma, and Callaway Gardens in Georgia would have been in full bloom a week ago, but they are just now beginning to come out. Garden experts indicate that this should mean two things for this year's display. First, the blooms should be quite spectacular over the next week or so. Second, the blooms may not remain at their height as long as normal this year.

As of this weekend, the azalea blooms at Muskogee, where the Azalea Festival will continue until the end of the month, were still emerging but they should be quite beautiful as this week goes along. The case is the same at Callaway Gardens at Pine Mountain, Georgia. The blooms there were still coming out on Saturday, but should be really pretty by the end of the week.

Elsewhere across the South, you can expect about the same conditions at gardens from about the midpoints of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi and north. Along the coastal plain, everything looks really nice. Here in Northwest Florida, the azaleas are just spectacular.

Here are links to some of our garden pages at ExploreSouthernHistory.com:

• Muskogee Azalea Festival - Muskogee, Oklahoma
• Callaway Gardens - Pine Mountain, Georgia
• Dothan Area Botanical Gardens - Dothan, Alabama
• Eden Gardens State Park - Point Washington, Florida
• Rainbow Springs State Park - Dunnellon, Florida
• Garvan Woodland Gardens - Hot Springs, Arkansas
• Maclay Gardens State Park - Tallahassee, Florida