Love, Death and Singing Cuckoos

I usually wander my yard in the morning snapping pictures of frogs, chipmunks, flowers and birds.  Or scroll through ten thousand photos in my iCloud storage before as I sit down to write.  Today I thought I was going to write about the massive chipmunk underground highway in our front yard.  I have a couple of cute photos. Except I googled the mythology of azaleas after spending my five minutes agonizing over the news to find that according to Chinese folktale lore, an azalea appears when a cuckoo sings.  OK, couldn't resist!  The full story is that once upon a time a selfish, evil king ruled like a bad mofo.  The people had had it and a warrior assassinated him.  Before he died he transformed into a cuckoo.  A cuckoo who sang angrily as blood spilled out his bill.  It's this cuckoo blood that turned the azalea into a brilliant bloom.  This once white this flower turned the color of watermelons and cotton candy and yes, blood red.   And although like many plants it's associated with birds and butterflies, abundance and wealth it can also signal a death threat.  Just send it to your enemy in a black vase.  Your hope is that he, she, it will suck out the nectar and have a heart attack.  Or munch on the leaves and start salivating profusely like my dog does right before her breakfast.  A dark pink azalea is a symbol of passion, love and romance. Love and death.  Who knew such drama grew out my front door?  Unfortunately for me, this particular one I bought last year at Home Depot is a Southern Indian azalea.  My PictureThis app tells me that although it attracts hummingbirds and butterflies it's, "relatively difficult to maintain and is more suitable for people with gardening experience who are ready to take on the challenge."  I laugh!  No wonder this little guy, native to Japan, has been reluctant to bloom.  And to make my head spin a little faster or maybe in the opposite direction, the scientific name of this plant is Rhododendron simsii.  Rhododendron?  The website birdsandbloooms.com tells me in fact all azaleas are rhododendrons but not all rhododendrons are azaleas.  I'm going to get another cup of coffee or take a nap.