In ancient Greece, kings and such would quickstep over to the Temple of Delphi to ask the Gods questions about important matters of state – when to wage war, what to serve at an orgy, that sort of thing – and the temple priestess or Pythia would fall into a frenzied, writhing trance, and, foaming at the mouth, would spit out their divine recommendations. Without the frenzy and foaming (except for the weeks before the plant catalog is due at the printer), Anne Haines of RareFind Nursery is a modern-day plant Pythia. Ask for a recommendation and she will suggest a treasure like Rhododendron ‘Marshy Point’s Humdinger.’ For me, this aptly named autumn and spring flowering evergreen azalea was a blooming machine, flaunting glowing, double pink flowers from September to mid-December, stopped only by continuous days of hard frost, and then again in spring.  Truly, a plant fit for a king!

Copyright 2011