It's Masters time at the Augusta National. Players arrive today for three days of practice before the First Round of play begins Thursday. I really hope the azaleas for which the course is famous are as gorgeous as they were when the cameras showed them on the news a few days ago. We've had rain for two days so we'll see.

The Masters is always the first full week in April. Some years a late freeze sets the azaleas back so that they peak just after the tournament. Other years warm spells bring them out early and they're on the decline during the tournament. This year they may be just right. I hope so!

We were in Charleston, SC about a week ago and the azaleas there were already beautiful and I estimate mostly a week or so before peak. They definitely weren’t at peak yet and I didn’t see any that had gone over the hill.

I like the look of the pre-peak to peak time better than the peak to post peak time. Post peak they get a little ragged and disordered looking. I imagine Augusta being slightly north and inland some might be a little behind Charleston on the azalea bloom timing. I typically watch The Masters, partly for the gorgeous course, even though I haven’t played golf in years.

It's the only golf tournament I watch all year and why not? The best of the best are all there in one place.

Around here we say that at the Masters there's one wet day, one real chilly morning and one pretty windy day. Looks like we've had the wet one today.

I agree about the azaleas. In fact, in the nursery where I worked we called the spent blooms "rags". Some azaleas are more raggy than other because the spent blooms don't drop quickly. They just hang there looking brown and ugly for a longer time.

best nap of the year