Here on the left are some of the lacecaps. You can see their blooms are a lavender. They are supposed to be blue but you know how hydrangeas are. They color up by the nutrients in the soil. Here we have sandy clay so there isn't much to make them blue. I just can't get over how many blooms these plants have. To be truthful they have been a disapointment for some years. They used to have varigated, white/green, foliage. They even lost that for the most part but at least they still have their lacy caps.
Just past them is a nice sized Oakleaf Hydrangea. It also is full of blooms. You can see the Nikko Blue mopheads peeking around the Oakleaf hydrangea. I have been giving them a bit of Azalea food and they have responded well.
Across from this hydrangea is the climbing hydrangea. It is full of blooms at the bottom of the plant. It is just now beginning to climb the arch that was built for it.
After we leave the hydrangea walk and walk around to the front of the yard barn you can see the small pink hydrangeas blooming. The poor little things have almost been swallowed up by the big old fashioned hostas behind them.
Out front one of my favorite hydrangeas is blooming the best ever. I can't remember the name of this hydrangea but it has varigated yellow and green leaves. It isn't known for its blooms but for this varigated foliage. Of course in this soil it is losing its varigation as it is going to some white and green leaves but if it continues to bloom like this I won't mind much. The delicate blue hue has not been altered by any additives. It just is.
If you haven't had your fill of hydrangeas here you can pop over to Phillip's blog Dirt Therapy and see what he has blooming. He has some fancy ones. He also has a lovely garden to wonder and admire. Do you have hydrangeas blooming this year?
This is not hydrangea country. I tried the oakleaf hydrangea a couple of years back, a dwarf variety and was really bummed when it didn't come back for me. I might try it again someday...the foliage is wonderful to say nothing of the blooms.
ReplyDeleteChristine in Alaska
Very lovely shots as always.
ReplyDeleteLove the soft contrast- the light and shade of the shots.
So calm and I feel like strolling for a while to witness the joy of greens and blooms:)
Very beautiful and love the creeping one especially!
Your garden and hydrangeas look great - thanks for the mention!
ReplyDeleteHI Lisa, I love hydrangeas. Your pathway edged with them is lovely and that arch with the climber is just gorgeous. Imagine when it completely covers the arch......lovely idea.
ReplyDeleteEnvy your sandy clay soil......fertility and drainage.
Oh very nice indeed, lovely photos! I think we're going to have a good hydrangea year here in Connecticut also - the mopheads all seem to have buds - not an every year occurrence!
ReplyDeleteHydrangeas are such beautiful delicate flowers. I just love them, unfortunatelly they are hard to maintein in my hot dry climate.
ReplyDeleteYour hydrangeas are a delight. I planted a lacecap (serrata) this spring, and the poor little thing got frost nipped in May. It has black leaves now, but one brave bloom has appeared. A little sad looking, so I'll just have to enjoy yours.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delight! I can only grow the oakleaf (unless I want to be a slave to watering) here, so it was lovely to be able to enjoy your lush hydrangea heaven this morning. :)
ReplyDeleteGood morning Lisa. You are the second person to mention that the hydrangea are blooming better than ever. I love them. Don't have a big variety because the lacecaps don't grow well here. Wish they did, I'd love to have several.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
love hydrangea's too. you lucky thing to have sooo many!
ReplyDeleteThis has been a glorious hydrangea year, hasn't it? Starting with Oakleafs, which are needing pruing now to remove old blooms and going through lacecaps and mopheads now at their zenith, they haven't been this pretty in years.
ReplyDeleteLoved your previous shots from the ladder.
Oh my goodness.. I have been missing all this. I didnt realize you had another blog on just gardens. I just put it on my dashboard so I can follow it. I have much to read.
ReplyDeleteI love all hydrangeas, no matter the color and no matter whether they're named or not. You have some beauties here, Lisa! Last year was my best year for hydrangeas, though this year is looking pretty good, too. I keep trying to get my 'Endless Summers' to turn blue, but I guess they need a lot more acid food than what I've given them.
ReplyDeleteI've heard the climbing variety can get 60-80 feet tall! You might need a taller arch one of these days:)
The Hydrangea gives substance in your border, with lots of tall blooms, especially that oakleaf one. I love Hydrangea for their pretty flowers and long season of bloom. The H. paniculata, and some H. macrophylla do best in my cold climate, but they won't be flowering until August. It would be great to have some early hydrangea flowers.
ReplyDeleteLisa girl that was gorgeous and YES ! I am a hydrangea fan : )
ReplyDeleteI have juggled a few of my front plants around so I could have a mini section of hydrangea in the front bed and another YES ! to how they are responding this year : )
Hey girl .. it doesn't matter what cultivar they are, new or old .. they are beautiful flowering shrubs : ) .. do you remember which one the climbing kind is ? if so could you let me know ?
They are all beautiful ! and now I know I can give them a bit of azalea food too ! Thanks girl : )
Joy
Lisa: My hydrangeas are a way off from actual blooms but the buds are getting large and it promises to be a banner year here also. We had a fairly mild winter which may have helped but everything seems bigger and fuller this season. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteLisa your garden certainly is hydrangea heaven!!I have an annabelle that is beginning to sprout blossoms and my climbing hydrangea is doing it's best this year!I find their flowers are similar to Queen Annes Lace!I really find your Oakleaf Hydrangea interesting..the flowers are similar to my climbing H.
ReplyDeleteYour Nikko blues are stunning...against the white I can just imagine!!!I'm trying to grow blue hydrangeas and one blogger than visits me puts her coffee grinds around hers to keep them blue!!!Guess where my coffee grinds are going now...hope they like decaf!
Enjoy all those lucious hydrangeas...I can just imagine the indoor bouquets you have!
You have some happy hydrangeas!
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful!
And because you asked :-)
The only hydrangeas around here are an old white variety...turns a peachy color in the fall..It is named Pee Gee.
(and you may visit it in my archives)
http://riverrim.blogspot.com/2007/11/fingerlings-and-finishings-to-start.html
Thank you so much for visiting and your lovely comments!
ReplyDeleteWood spirits DO make those holes in trees. :)
Your garden is gorgeous!!!!!
Hugs
I love the idea of arch with the climber one. Can't wait to see how it will look after the bloom.
ReplyDeleteAnd feeling sorry for Christine, you may go for different kinds of hydrangea according to your zone.
Your Hydrangeas look mah-velous! Most of mine are starting to do their thing. Absolutely nothing blue about any of them, but that's ok, I like pink. I think this will be a good year for Hydrangeas here too, with all the rain we've been getting.
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful. They were my father's favorite flower, and he grew them beautifully. Thanks for sharing and bringing back a memory.
ReplyDeleteI like your hydrangea. There are so many varieties. I didn't know about the bicolor type until I read your post!
ReplyDeleteLisa, You lucky gardener! I can grow the natives and adore them, but the big leafs and that great variegated have all died many deaths! Your garden looks wonderful, btw. gail
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful collection of hydrangeas you have. They don't do well here, but I do have one left out of 4.
ReplyDeleteOh, Lisa, what a joy to walk down your hydrangea pathway. I SO love hydrangea (all colors~ all kinds) and it thrills me that yours are blooming for you so well this year. And that climber... how fun! I know photos don't do them justice... it must be a great feeling to walk that pathway and enjoy so many flowers on those shrubs. Lovely!!!
ReplyDeleteMeems
They may not hold onto the colors you prefer, Lisa, but your hydrangeas are just lovely and they look as if they belong in the heaven you've made for them. What makes them lose the variegation? Is the plain green growth more vigorous and able to crowd out the white and green stems?
ReplyDeleteYour Climbing Hydrangea is looking good! We planted one in IL and after years of waiting it finally got going...right before we moved to TX. I'm trying an oakleaf now, but have ordered myself to not whine if it croaks!
Happy GBBD
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Wow, Lisa! You really DO have a hydrangea heaven there! GORGEOUS! Mine are doing well here, too. I don't have any that bloom blue unless I remember to mulch in the fall with pine needles. I've thought about the azalea thing, but have never done it. Our soil is just too alkaline here for blue hydrangeas naturally. Nevertheless, they're all gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteOne of these days I'm going to hit the road and come see Greenbow!
i confess: i cheat. i buy the tender ones that are blue and pink in the store, already blooming, in mid spring. i put them out in pots. if they come back the next year, great. if not, meh. it was only a few bucks and they're so showy and brighten things early. but i can't grow them here. i've tried and tried. my soil isn't right for them, nor my light.
ReplyDeleteyours are Fabulous, Lisa. excellent job. and thanks for the link to philips place, that's bookmarked.
my stuff.
Your hydrangeas are great, Lisa. Some of them do well here-I have arborescens, and lacecaps, and four different paniculata types, and a climbing one too. I wish Oakleaf would do well here, but we're just a wee bit too cold and windy in the winters. They do best when there's lots of moisture, too.
ReplyDeleteI love your hydrangeas, and I wish they were easier to grow here. I have some success, but the heat is hard on them. I'm trying the new Invincibelle and also a double. I'll let you know.~~Dee
ReplyDeleteYou have a very lovely collection of hydrangeas, Lisa. They must love your garden. An oakleaf and a lacecap are on my wish list.
ReplyDeleteI Sure would love to stroll your hydrangea path with you. Your yard is a gorgeous place!
I love lacecaps and mopheads; yours are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I don't have any hydrangeas! I'm not sure why. Love all yours. I also haven't done the ladder photo trick yet. I should!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely hydrangea post! We have 2, that's all and they're not too happy here. Yours are just stunning. I love the blue tint on the final one - I'd love one of those! We have clay soil too. Sometimes we get big lumps of it like potters' clay.
ReplyDelete