Hydrangea heaven!

Hydrangeas are one of my very favorite flowers.  I'm drawn to them wherever I go and am always trying to figure out where I can squeeze another one in.  Unfortunately for now I'm pretty much out of space for new ones.  I noticed that almost all the Hydrangeas in my yard are blooming right now.  Last year several of them didn't bloom after we had so much snow and cold weather.  You can look out from just about any window in the house and see a Hydrangea blooming.  Best of all those flowers will last for a long time.

 Hydrangea macrophylla 'Pia' is growing in a large container on the deck.  This shrub stays on the small side and apparently is one of the few that stays pink no matter what the soil is like.

 Another Hydrangea macrophylla, this one was here when we bought the house.  It has good years and not so good years.  This is a good year for it!  The color is a dark purplish-blue.  It grows right under a large Cedar tree.

 Someone left an anonymous comment recently that this could be Hydrangea macrophylla 'Ayesha'.  I can't read the tag anymore, but the name does sound very familiar.  I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

 This is a huge Lacecap Hydrangea that was here when we bought our house.  It gets to be a good 7 feet plus tall.  I didn't prune it very well this year so it didn't bloom as nicely as usual.  It was definitely planted in an area far too small for the size.

 Hyrangea 'Preziosa' is considered a hybrid between H. macrophylla and H. serrata.  This is probably my favorite of all.  It didn't like the heat we had recently, so some of the flowers were burned a bit.

 Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer' is doing okay here.  I'm not sure I'd recommend it for at least this area.  I have a friend that is quite the gardener and she's lost two already, my sister says her's isn't doing well either.  The tag says it can take full sun, mine can hardly take part sun without wilting terribly.  I think for around here I'll just stick with the much tougher 'Nikko Blue'.

 Hydrangea macrophylla 'Nikko Blue' is so full of flowers it just flops down.  It grows in mostly shade and gets no special treatment.

 I've shown this one before - a florist's Hydrangea.  These are the kind that are given as a gift in a  fancy pot and then most people throw them away when they finish blooming.  My husband gave me this years ago and of course I couldn't throw it away.  It took a few years to get going, but now it's doing great.

  Oakleaf Hydrangea (quercifolia) 'Snow Queen' is another favorite.  It's probably about 6 feet tall right now.  I also have 'Pee Wee' which gets to be about 4 feet tall.

I'm still waiting for my newest 'Pinky Winky' to finish blooming.  It has done great so far and I'm anxiously watching the buds grow.

I don't do anything special for my Hydrangeas, every so often I may remember to give them a little acid fertilizer, but that's it.  I only ever have to water 'Preziosa' and 'Endless Summer' the rest do fine with whatever rain we get.