Lantern Festival at Forest Hills

Q&A
I do live chats to answer gardeners' questions every other Thursday from 1-2 p.m. My next live chat will be Thursday, July 15 at 1 p.m. In between these chats you can post questions as "comments" on this blog, as this reader did:

Question
Hi Carol, Just missed your chat and wanted to ask the following...I've got a small azalea with curled leaves, lots of dead branches, die back, some leaves turning brown. It's on northern side of house, not much sun and probably planted a little deep in the ground, so maybe not good drainage. I moved it to eastern side next to thriving azalea, installed not so deep in ground. I've also fertilized it with miracid and chelated iron. leaves are still curling, looking wilted. any ideas? thanks

Carol Replies:
It sounds to me as though you are doing everything right. Azaleas like to be planted high and shallow. Although they can survive the shade of the north side of a house, the north wind can cause dieback over the winter. My only concern is that if this is a recently purchased azalea it might have some disease which could spread to your healthy azalea. If it has been purchased within the last year and you have the receipt, I would call the nursery where you purchased it and ask about getting a replacement.

Garden event:
11th annual Lantern Festival
Thursday, July 16, 6-9 pm
rain date: July 23

This memorial ceremony is inspired by Buddhist rituals. Inscribe a lantern with a personal message to friends or family and float it across Lake Hibiscus at sunset. In this breathtaking ceremony of remembrance, visitors to this lush, Victorian landscape make paper lanterns and set them afloat on the peaceful waters of a small lake. This ritual is based on the traditional Japanese Bon Festival, a time when a door opens to the world of the ancestors, allowing us to send messages to the other side. People enjoy picnics on the grass and a multi-cultural program of music and dance. They decorate their lanterns with calligraphy and notes to those who have died. At sunset, a candle is lit in each lantern, and the glimmering lanterns are set afloat. Drifting and flickering with the wind, the lanterns symbolize the soul's journey when life ends.

Performances by gospel singer Ron Murphy, Master Tsuji's Samurai Taiko Drummers, the Chinese dance of Tsai-Fong Dance Troupe, Sanggar Kinanthi, and students from Showa Institute.

Admission is free, with a $10 requested donation per lantern. Parking is $10.
The cemetery is an easy walk from the Orange Line T, Forest Hills stop via the Tower Street shortcut.
For more information contact Jonathan Clark of the Forest Hills Educational Trust
e-mail: j_clark@foresthillstrust.org
phone: 617.524.3354
web: http://www.foresthillstrust.org

Garden Event:
Sunday, July 12 at 2pm: Horticulturalists Walking Tour
Forest Hills' founder, Henry A.S. Dearborn, was a civic leader with expertise in law and politics, as well as in landscape design and horticulture. The first president of the Mass. Horticulture Society, Dearborn, along with others, helped shape the rural garden cemetery movement in the United States. Join Anthony Sammarco, author of more than 50 books on Boston history, for a walking tour celebrating Dearborn and other prominent 19th century horticulturists buried at Forest Hills Cemetery. $9