A Hydrangea (post) for Mother's Day

Somehow it seems appropriate to post about my Hydrangea (one of them) on Mother's Day, although I'm not sure why.  It wasn't a Mother's Day gift.

This is a Hydrangea called Mini Penny.  It was one that was advertised has having a longer blooming period.  And since it's always nice to have lots of Hydrangea blossoms, I thought this was worth a try!

I grew it in the ground when I lived in the house and it did well.   When I moved to the apartment and transplanted it into a container, it struggled.  

(Hmmm - maybe like me at the time?)

It's in the shadiest corner of my shade garden behind my apartment and it does pretty well now. I'm glad I have it!

Have a beautiful day!

Catching up...

Well, it's been a few weeks since I've posted so I'm kinda playing catch-up.  This first photo is from a week ago.  Last Sunday, I spent several hours cleaning up and transplanting in my hummingbird garden.  The next morning when I came out to look at my work, I found this fungus growing - blooming? - underneath a clump of Salvia "Black and Blue."  It only lasted that day and was gone by the time I came home from work in the evening.  I have no idea what it is but it is amazing!  (You can click on the picture for a larger view.)

My Balloon Flowers have finished blooming, but when they were blooming, they sure were beautiful.

You can see why they are called "Balloon Flowers" - their buds look like little balloons!

Oh, so lovely!

Along my path to my back door, I have planted Mealy Cup Sage and "Coral Nymph" Salvia.  Both these Salvias are treated as annuals here, but sometimes the Mealy Cup Sage (the blue one) will over-winter.  The "Coral Nymph" Salvia is very good about reseeding.

The yellow flower is Threadleaf Coreopsis.  I love the color combinations!

Even though I have several Hydrangeas, I only have one blooming this year.  I think it got too cold this past winter for the other ones, so although they survived, they aren't going to bloom this summer.

This Hydrangea is called Mini-Penny.  It is a smaller bush and very charming!

Have a beautiful day!

In my garden...

So, here's some stuff blooming in my garden.

These three photos are all of the same balloon flower bloom.

I think it is so amazing!

My Venus Flytrap is still alive.

And it is blooming again!  I'm pretty tickled.

 
My Molineux, a David Austin rose. 

This is a cluster of blossoms on "The Fairy."   You can see part of this rose bush in the first picture in my post about Clover.

And last, but not least, a gorgeous hydrangea bloom.  This is "Mini Penny."

Have a beautiful day!

'Light O' Day'...

So, here's a gorgeous plant! I found out about this Hydrangea several years ago when it was shown on an episode of "In the Garden with Bryce Lane." And I knew it was something I wanted to grow. Of course, wanting a plant and finding the plant aren't always the same thing. Some months later, I did see it at my favorite local nursery, but it was a larger size than I needed (read: it cost more than I wanted to pay.)




A while later, I found it in a gallon container at a price I was willing to pay, so I brought home my lovely beauty. Even though I have had it for 3 springs now, this is the first time it has bloomed. Even without the blooms, though, I think it is an absolutely stunning plant.




It grows in a container near where I park my van, at the junction of two paths. One path leads to the back door and the other path leads to the front door. It is sort of the starting point of my garden.




Hydrangea macrophylla 'Light O' Day' is a Lace Cap Hydrangea. I really haven't cared whether a not it bloomed because the variegated leaves are so interesting on their own. But, if it did choose to bloom, I was hoping for blueish flowers. However, these pink ones are just fine.





I think this bush is so striking. I plan to plant other Hydrangeas in this area under the Laurel Oak, but I am undecided about whether to include more of 'Light O' Day,' or to just leave this one as an amazing specimen plant. What do you think?


Have a beautiful day!

'Endless Summer' Hydrangea...

My Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer' is so lovely right now. I think this year it has the most blooms yet.





When I bought it several years ago, I put it in the ground where it is now, but the soil was just too dry (it is next to the Incense Cedars), so I moved the Hydrangea into a large pot and it does better now.




I still have trouble with it not getting enough water, so I am planning to plant it in the ground, just not by the Incense Cedars. This time, it will be under a Laural Oak.



On my table, I have a 3 cornered, three-footed beautiful glass dish in which I am floating 3 smaller blooms from a different Hydrangea bush. It makes such lovely centerpiece. I'll have to post a picture of it.





Aren't you glad there are such luscious flowers in the world for us to enjoy?


Have a beautiful day!

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!

Colors of Winter...

It is too cold to write. It is too cold to take pictures. But I am forging ahead any way. (I was just informed that if I was a sculptor, I could forge a head.) I braved the freezing temperatures and the frigid wind and ventured out to capture the colors of winter.

{Buddleja davidii var. nanhoensis 'Nanho Blue'}

I think of winter as being a grey, colorless time of year. Except for my Johnnies, of course. But the past few days, I have been noticing subtle colors.

{Hydrangea macrophylla}

These are definitely not the bold, dashing colors of summer. Or even the sweet, enchanting colors of spring. They are wise, subdued colors, beckoning closer inspection.

{Gaultheria procumbens ‘Red Baron,’}

The leaves of the Creeping Jenny trailing over the edge of an abandoned birdbath have bronzed.

{Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'}

Shifting shadow patterns have sun-burned the camellia's leaves.

{Camellia}

One lone periwinkle bloom hangs on despite the cold.

{Vinca minor}

The underside of the leaves of one of my coral bells shows an astonishing purple.

{Heuchera}

Sunlight glows through the new leaves of one of my pitcher plants.

{Sarracenia}

Delight! Oh, delight! I was thrilled to discover a bud forming for a bloom to come in spring.


Have a beautiful day!

Anticipation...

As fall darkens into winter, the bleakness increases, drawing me down. It is easy to think that months must pass before there are any signs of life and newness reappearing in my garden. But I have noticed, if I look carefully, I find niches of hope for the coming warmth. Even as the leaves of a hydrangea are falling, the beginnings of young ones are emerging.




New leaves of Iris pallida are forming.




Hidden bulbs are starting to show, telling me to hang in there, that spring will come.




The tendrils of sweet peas show the promises of a much larger vine and of the fragrance of the blooms to come in spring, while the little Johnnies will bolster me through the coming winter.


Have a beautiful day!