Rhododendron austrinum JC Raulston Arboretum so cardinal flower is a

so cardinal flower is a plant to admire rather than eat

freely draining bed

brushing off heat

honest flowers on a graceful frame

fan-shaped leaves straight from the ground

Rhododendron austrinum JC Raulston Arboretum so cardinal flower is aRhododendron austrinum, the Florida azalea, is among the earliest and most powerfully fragrant of all the wild deciduous azaleas of the Deep South. Native to the Florida Panhandle, southern Georgia, southern Alabama, and into Mississippi, the species haunts open pine woods, ravine slopes, and river bluffs, often growing in sandy, acidic ground beneath tall longleaf pines. The species name austrinum simply means southern, a fitting label for an azalea