Hydrangeas in winter...

Say the word “hydrangea” and immediately images of lush green bushes laden with huge blue or pink blooms on warm days come to mind. Hydrangeas seem to have the ability to be elegant and cottagey at the same time, charming us in the garden and as cut flowers. And now there are cultivars that bloom not only in late spring or early summer, but continue throughout the summer.




But what about after the leaves have fallen and it is decidedly winter? What happens to the hydrangea then? Does it become a forgotten cast-off, its purpose already fulfilled for the year? I think not.




In winter, its value becomes more subtle, more architectural. It is no longer a shrub of lush green leaves splashed with the color of its blossoms. Now, it is a display of branches and twigs, silhouetted against the snow. Even though they are alive, they seem to be mostly dead; a reflection of me in the winter-time.




They become symbolic of the waiting game of winter. There is the hope of the fall cuttings growing in the greenhouse, the anticipation of the fulfillment of the leaf bud’s promise, and there are little glimmers of the newness of the coming spring.


Have a beautiful day!