I recently heard that one of my neighbor's sons did landscaping work. I don't claim to know much, if anything, about landscaping but I've always like to tinker and experiment with gardening. But I thought I might a throw little work his way and asked him to clean up my front yard and replace the small holly bushes that had been broken by the mountain of snow last winter with some hydrangeas.
We discussed Limelight, Little Lime...
...Little Lamb and Annabelle as possibilities.
I came home to find blue Endless Summer.
I've never been a fan of blue hydrangea for some reason. I think they look wonderful en masse against the weathered gray shingles of an oceanfront house, but I think the true blue color seems out of place when mixed in a garden of other colors.
But maybe I'm changing my mind.
The intense blue is softening to pale greens and lavender.
Pale green with a blush of pink. I think this one is simply amazing!
Just like you, they're getting more beautiful with age!
And they're a welcome visitor inside the house as well.
I love blue hydrangeas! Mine are all white. I'll trade.
ReplyDeletegorgeous!! Some of my hydrangeas didn't bloom this year :(
ReplyDeleteAh, the Antiqueing of Hydrangea! They're going to get even more amazing.
ReplyDeleteLove the blue thing goin' on with the dresser.
These are only blue in acid soil, and so the nursery puts an additive (aluminum sulfate) in the pots. Unless you have naturally acid soil, your endless summer hydrangea should revert to pink once the additive wears off. If you want to keep them blue, you can buy aluminum sulfate at the garden center. http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/colorchange.html
ReplyDeletethey are fantastic! Do you also know that they are a reblooming variety? You haven't seen the last of them!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteLove them. I also liked the ones you picked up a few weeks ago. Where did they end up? I've lost the ones I planted this Spring, but the ones I planted in the last few years are hanging in there. No more blooms, but they are alive. I hope next year won't be as hot and dry, the poor plants
really don't like that weather combo.
I love the painting!
am
Blue is not really my color either but they are beautiful and are turning even prettier colors as they age out. Hydarangeas are one of my favorite flowers and I always have some dried ones on hand. Have enjoyed visiting your blog and watching the progress on your fabulous home and am now your newest follower! Will be back often!
ReplyDeleteRebecca
No,they're lovely not too beachy at all.
ReplyDeleteWe pay good $$$ for such loveliness don't we Shelley?
And the more antiqued the better.
Yours look fresh against the white paint of your ??? porch?
xo jane
I'm a bit of a hydrangea nut! I have about 6 endless summers, 2 little lambs, and 2 pinky winky's!
ReplyDeleteThe pinky winky's will flower into the fall, this is our first year with them!
I'm trying to find the perfect spot from some lime-lights!
Enjoy yours!
way better than your limelights, which would've hidden your porch eventually - cutting them like crazy for the house now - you will love them in the right place
ReplyDeletenot much blue here, so when i brought in a big bouquet of the endless at the beginning of summer, my husband called them gaudy - ha!
have the blushing bride too and they all seem to be turning the same at this time of year
pat h
well thank you. you were talking to me weren't you?
ReplyDeleteon saturday i had to cut a bunch of my hydrangeas b/c seemingly overnight the ferns were taking them down. so i came up with a huge boquet and hopefully they will dry the pale green color that they are. hydrangeas don't grow easily here and i'm terrified of killing them with any one of my killing measures that i seem to employ in my garden. yours are gorgeous. i kinda like the blue.
Love the blue hydrangeas! It's fascinating to me that you can change the color of the flowers by the type of soil you have (or what you add to the soil). The limelight hydrangeas are gorgeous too.
ReplyDeleteClaudia
They are just perfect this color but don't count on it to stay. Mine are a different color each year. This year they were deep purple!!! However, my white ones are always white.
ReplyDeleteLove the vignette inside and that painting.
I LOVE the blue especially with all the crisp white on your porch. The blue will be shortlived anyway...when they fade to softer shades is when they are the most beautiful. Good choice neighbor's son!
ReplyDeleteI find them sturdier than Annabelles which have floppy stems and fall over after wind and rain. They always look a mess. The Endless Summers are woodier and keep more formed. And they are gorgeous....
ReplyDeleteSo pretty Steve! My Little Lamb are starting to turn from cream to pale pink. The limelight are just peaking!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your beautiful hydrangeas.
Trina
funny, I'm not a blue hydrangea person either, except for that purpley-blue color you show. But, I do think they will be lovely in front of your grey. (you have what looks to be blue flowers in your photo in your header and it looks so pretty with the paint) How does this happen with people one hires?? It's like they intentionally don't listen.
ReplyDeleteI found three little limes, but still looking for 2-3 more.
Big, big fan of hydrangeas here. In floral design, they're a delight because they take up so much space, but a bit finicky once cut in hot weather, as I'm sure you already know. Did you know that if you dip them in alum before you put them in water, they last longer? Steve, I really like the painting above your little arrangement.
ReplyDeleteThey are gorgeous. The reason I really love hydrangeas is that you don't always get what you think you are going to get. The change in their color as the season moves on is what makes them so awesome.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, I was just planning my own post on hydrangeas that I was tentatively titling "I hate blue hydrangeas"! Just kidding, yours look fine, but it does seem that there's a bit too many endless summers around this particular summer---I associate the blue with coastal architecture, probably because I grew up with them in Maine, and white with "the town".
ReplyDeleteThese will grow on you, Steve--and they are so much more lovely than holly, except in winter.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you that blue is not my favorite, but any color hydrandeas are better than nothing. I used to have beautiful ones, but they got smashed during the reno and never recovered. I've got to plant more! They're my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing something wrong with mine, I think they might be too shade by by chestnut tree or I'm pruning at the wrong time of year.
ReplyDeleteAh, hydrangeas. If not chosen carefully, they can lead to tragedy (grocery store hot house gallon puffball moved to the garden, nooope...) but I do love the PGs with their fragrance and fall color blush. Pink muted with brown like old french lingerie... wonder if your Endless Summer will stay true blue... stay tuned. Loving your blog, sweets!
ReplyDelete