"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

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.

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42 comments:

  1. I am in love with your Hydrangeas mine sadly did not fair so well so... I will try again next year. Do you think I would have success with a container one?

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  2. Aren't they all so gorgeous! The colors are just popping out of these photos ~ I bet they smell great! Too bad I don't have a 'scratch n' sniff' computer screen! :)

    Have a lovely evening Catherine!
    xo Catherine

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  3. So many....SO gorgeous. I have always been a little fearful to try them, but after reading your last sentence or two, I just may!

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  4. A beautiful hydrangea collection. I love the dark purple color of the one that came with your house. I'm also very fond of the oakleaf hydrangeas. I used to grow them at our first house, and they were so forgiving of brown thumbs and excess shade. Their flowers make lovely dried bouquets too.

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  5. Your hydrangea are stunningly beautiful! They do well here on the coast too.

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  6. I am enivous of your hydrangea collection, you mentioned they are easy to grow...I will have to give them a try.

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  7. I dolove hydrangeas also! I have Endless Summer and it seems to do well in our area, but you have to feed it and cut out old blossoms just above new growth.

    I also have Unique, Limelight and Let's Dance. I have Limelight in full sun and it does great, but the Let's Dance is wilting every day. Endless Summer is in part shade. I don't think it is recommended for full sun in our area.

    Eileen

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  8. Lacecap!! I think you just identified one in our yard. I was wondering what that was.

    I'll have to keep my wife away from this post. If the whole yard were nothing but hydrangea's, she would not complain. They are gorgeous.

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  9. I know where to go now if I need to see hyrangeas. They are beautiful. You have quite a collection. I think I like the lacecap one the most. But the colors on the florist hydrangea are great.

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  10. Those photos do look like heaven. What a wonderful variety of shapes and shades! My endless summers die back to the ground each year and are less than 2 feet tall still. No buds yet. But other mopheads would completely die, so I guess I'll have to be patient. I wish my climate was as friendly to hydrangeas as yours.

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  11. I love your hydrangea Nicco Blue the best. All the flowers are heavenly!

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  12. Hydrangea heaven indeed! My favorite shrub as well and I know I'd feel right at home in your garden. Such lovelies. I remember your Preziosa from last year and have added one here. No blooms this year though:( Maybe one day it'll be as nice as yours. It's odd about the 'Endless Summer'. I grow them in the same conditions as my other hydrangeas and they do well. I do think your mystery hydrangeas looks like 'Ayesha'. A beautiful hydrangea as are they all.

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  13. Catherine, Your pictures are breath-taking. I have terrible luck with hydrangeas here. Thanks so much for sharing yours.

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  14. Hi Catherine, I've not been a big one for hydrangeas, but I do like the oak leaf. I have two here: 'Pinky Winky' (I know, the name is silly, but the flowers are not!) and 'Quick Fire.' You should check out 'Q-F.' If you have room for one more, I know you'd like this! It changes color from bright white to reddish pink after a few weeks. :-)

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  15. Hi Catherine,

    Oh I am in heaven....a post devoted to one of my favorite flowers! I am partial to the light blue flowers and I really like the lacecap variety. Thank you so much for showing us how beautiful they are!

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  16. Oh la la la i really like this heaven !! great colors great plants.....love Ria......

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  17. Oh la la la i really like this heaven !! great colors great plants.....love Ria......

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  18. hi catherine
    wow!!! your hydrangeas they are great
    i like the "snow queen" and "nikko blue"
    have anice summerday in your pretty garden,
    hugs,regina

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  19. They are certainly happy in your gardens, what a beautiful display. I cannot pick a favorite here.

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  20. These are so pretty Catherine. Do you have "Limelight"? Mine is blooming for the first time this year. It's a white bloomer.

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  21. Love all of the hydrangeas! They are one of my favorites, too. I wish I had more room for more Oakleaf Hydrangeas in my garden. I love their foliage, flowers, and color!!

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  22. That is one of my favourite things about hydrangeas...how long the flowers last. They last forever!

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  23. Wow, thanks for sharing all your beautiful Hydrangeas. And thanks for the names. Makes a difference. They are all just lovely. I haven't had any luck with the oakleaf but I think that might be the gardeners problem not the plants. I will try your 'Pee Wee' sounds interesting. I don't have alot of shade that's my problem. Great post......

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  24. I love hydrangea time! Here in Mississippi, ours bloom in May. It is one of my favorite times of year.

    Yours are gorgeous. I especially like the dark purple/blue one.

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  25. I am going to have to have more hydrangeas. YOurs are beautiful. I think that 'Ayesha' is the prettiest. All of them are beautiful.

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  26. You have a beautiful assortment of Hydrangea. I am trying not to be envious of your ability to grow such a variety of types, as here it is mostly the paniculata and a few others that are hardy.

    Your lacecap has such a bright clear blue, very pretty, while your Nikko Blue must have the maximum number of petals you could fit into that space, wow.

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  27. Well you knew I had to love this posting. Just Gorgeous! You have more than I do LOL! I love the purple one. Mine died out a few years back and never replaced it. But I just adore the blue laced cap. I just got to get one of those to add to my collection someday.

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  28. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite too. You have some wonderful varieties. Love Preziosa, it is just beautiful.
    Marnie

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  29. As Usher says "OMG"!!!! These are gorgeous. Makes the Annabelles we see here in Ontario look so dull and ordinary. Thanks for sharing.

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  30. There's nothing more beautiful than a hydrangea bloom!

    Once upon a time in a garden before this one, I grew hydrangeas in abundance because the deer didn't visit (nor did I live in the scorching sun). I miss them so.

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  31. Hi, Catherine. Spectacular hydrangeas! You have so many varieties!!

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  32. I love the way the blooms stay on right into the winter and each month their hues change to such wonderful colours. Great investment plant if you have the right spot in the garden that suits their needs.

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  33. Hi Catherine, I took a few cuttings from my friend Carol's 'Ayesha.' So far they're doing great but I'll have to wait another year [at least] for flowers and I'm not really keen on waiting for things. LOL

    Both my H. paniculatas [Pinky and Unique] are still in tight bud stage. Patience, patience.

    Your photos are beautiful and I agree. Hydrangeas always catch my eye too. We're so lucky to be able to grow them here.

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  34. Such a fabulous post, I am also a big fan of hydrangeas! Your blue lacecap is stunning, how I wish we could grow blue ones here. Endless summer kind of grows here, but needs a lot of soil ammendement to keep the colour blue. My 2 are still at the leaf stage, no signs of flowers yet. I do hope to get some before winter! The oakleaf is beautiful as well. Are there more sterile blooms or do the panicles stay half open?

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  35. Rebecca - The flowers on my Oakleafs usually stay looking like this. I know I've seen others that have more flowers open, not sure if it's just the variety I have that blooms this way.

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  36. Fabulous Hydrangeas! I second that the hydrangea with the illegible tag is Ayesha; it looks just like mine!

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  37. I love, love , love hydrengeas....they are my most favorite flower/bush. Sadly they don't gorw well in my zone...only white ones do :(

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  38. Comeca - I've had good luck with my Hydrangea in a container. I'm not sure how they would do where you live, but it could be worth a try with a smaller variety.

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  39. WOW I can't believe you have all those huge shrubs in your smallish yard! I bet that is one beautiful sight to see!
    I love hydrangeas, too, but only grow them in somewhat hidde areas because they wilt so badly here in the summer.
    Happy late bday :)

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  40. I love them all! I think I may have to find some room for more than the one I have.

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  41. I love hydrangeas, too. They add massive color to the garden.

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  42. They look so very beautiful in so many colours. Would love to grow them myself.

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