Question

Bush closeup  
Red bush #2   QUESTION: Hi Rick. I live in Virginia and am renting a house while we build. There is a red bush with some green leaves at our rental house that I want to use at our new house. It gets bright pink flowers in the early spring but loses the flowers quickly. Right now it is a rounded bush about 4 feet in diameter. I have attached a photo. Thanks for your help!

ANSWER: Ben
It is hard to tell without more pictures...A picture of the whole plant from a distance would help tremendously...It could be an azalea or numerous other early spring flowering shrubs...
Flowering plants (angiosperms) are classified by the structure of the flowers they produce...Plants that grow in your area do not necessarily grow in other areas...
For a quicker and more precise answer I would recommend you take a sample of a section of the plant and a picture of the areas you describe that it is growing in to a local garden center (Not chain store)...Ask them if they can ID it...You may have to visit more than one to find someone knowledgeable...

Hope this helps you ID it...
Good luck...
Rick in southern New Jersey



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Red bush closeup  

Red bush #3   QUESTION: Hi Rick. Where in South Jersey are you? We just recently moved from Medford, NJ. So we're not totally familiar with all the vegetation. I have included 2 more photos. One is a closeup of the leaves and the other is from a greater distance so you can see the entire bush. I know what an axalea looks like and this is not an azalea. I hope this helps. Ben

Answer
I am in the Woodstown, NJ area...I taught Agricultural Occupations for BCIT in Medford from 2000 to 2005...Small world???
From a distance it looks like a Barberry (didn't see any thorns on the branches) or a Euonymous(close-up the leaves do not look like a euonymous)...
Check locally to see what it is...
Sorry I can't be more help...
Rick