Ten days ago four of us had a delightful visit to one of the least known Victoria gardens, Playfair Park, a hidden gem. Those in the know enjoy it for its magnificent displays of rhododendrons and a beaufully colourful long border. The rhodendrons, azaleas, camellias and bluebells were not disappointing though rhodos come into bloom at different times. Strangely, some of the bluebells were really pinkbells and whitebells. Playfair Park is surrounded by houses so not evident unless you know where to look so do ask us when you are in Victoria. Here is one view of the Park:

So where does this "endless dead-heading" come into it? Well, today Linda started dead-heading our rhododendrons at Gazebo Bed and Breakfast, ie pulling off the remnants of dead blooms from one of our first ones to come into bloom. It is shown below. She decided to count how many she removed. After 500 she was less than halfway through the task on this vigorous specimen.

This is quite a lengthy task but our difficulty lies in the fact that there are about 75 rhododendrons here in the bed and breakfast gardens. I leave you to compute the task, an annual one. Volunteers are welcome!