Friday, July 29, 2011

Hydrangea Heaven

   I love hydrangeas. Love, love, love 'em. I have never had much luck with roses as they are too high maintenance. I know. I have probably offended all you rose lovers. But 'gimme a pretty little hydrangea, and I am happy. I have the stately upper crust Oak Leaf hydrangeas on the North side of my house where they are getting close to 9 feet tall. These quietly elegant ladies are happily providing me with much needed shade for my curtainless living room and dining room. While the ladies paraded their blooms back in May, I contend that they have yet to have their finest day. That will come this fall when the foliage turns bronze and red. I can't wait to bring the lovely dried blooms with their gorgeous leaves into my house for a special touch of autumn.
   I am also wild about my lace-cap hydrangeas which were a mother's day gift from my husband and children many years ago. For a long time I thought that something was wrong with these little old ladies, that is, until I learned that they were actually supposed to look like this. I think the blooms look like stars dancing around a constellation of tiny baby stars. Now I appreciate the finer qualities of these little old ladies and will do whatever it takes to keep them happy (which, thankfully, is not much). They are planted outside my kitchen window and the dog loves to carve out a cool spot for himself under them on hot summer days. I always include a few of the lace-cap in bouquets with my traditional hydrangeas because no one can quite figure out what they are.
   I also planted a new variety of hydrangea this year called Endless Summer which, thus far, has totally lived up to its name. The bushes have been blooming off and on since May and there is new growth on both bushes with signs of developing buds. Other than wilting from the excessive heat, all of my hydrangeas are going strong. Even the delightful Mophead is still trying her hardest to win friends and influence the others with lots of new growth. And given that we are just shy of August in Nashville and our heat index is 115, I am duly impressed.
   Like I said, these ladies are relatively low maintenance and hold up under duress. That's definitely my kind of girl.
Here are some hydrangeas in all their glory, courtesy of Pinterest:

Source: google.com via Sasha on Pinterest








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