Like azaleas, Road Trips Gardeners? Drive on over to the New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, and check out the new Azalea Garden.

The second weekend of the grand opening is May 14 and 15, 2011. From noon until 6 p.m. each day, experts will be on hand to help you create and capture the beauty of azaleas.

The Azalea Garden represents the transformation of the Botanical Garden’s historic Azalea Way into a richly layered horticultural extravaganza that celebrates the beauty and variety of these popular garden plants. The new Azalea Garden includes nearly a mile of woodland paths that meander through a collection of 3,000 azaleas and rhododendrons from around the world, planted beneath ancient native oaks, tulip trees, and sweet gums.

The garden has been designed to ensure brilliant color and rich texture for much of the year. It will begin to flower during the first warm days of spring, when the pale pinks and lavenders of Korean rhododendron emerge. The spectacle provided by azaleas will reach a crescendo in late April and early May, when an entire hillside of Asian hybrid azaleas erupts into clouds of white, pink, coral, and magenta. Azaleas and rhododendrons will continue to provide color through late spring and into summer, flowering in sequence until the last of the vivid orange-red flowers of plum-leaf azaleas open in July.

Finally, companion plantings of fall-blooming witchhazel and herbaceous plants, as well as a second flush of magnificent color from reblooming azalea cultivars, will ensure that the garden remains vibrant into late autumn. A tapestry of daffodils and crocus, vast sweeps of ferns and hostas, and grassy glades inspired by mountain meadows will provide additional drama in early spring, summer, and fall.

(Photo courtesy of New York Botanical Garden)