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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Share a Garden Sunday - Hydrangeas

It's time to share our gardens. Visit Color Outside the Lines to enjoy more shared gardens.

Last July I bought a couple potted hydrangeas at Agway. The plants were all suffering from the hot dry conditions outside the store, so they were priced to sell. I couldn’t miss the chance to finally have some lovely hydrangeas in the garden. Here they are on the front steps waiting to be planted. The white one was the bigger plant of the two. All its nurture went into producing more and more leaves.

The blue one was a smaller shrub, but had more blooms.
Just after my purchase I was looking over a garden magazine in my mother’s doctor’s office. The doctor also gardens, so she wanted to know what plants I had. When I mentioned the Endless Summer hydrangeas, she said "Ah, those will probably not even bloom next year."

But here are those plants now, in photos taken a week ago and also this morning. This is the white one on the back corner of the house:



The blue one is still much smaller, and is in the garden bed at the back fence. But it has blooms also.


From summer 2005 to June 2008, nothing was done with the outside, so I am very happy at the improvements that have taken place since then. As a result, last week was Share-a-Garden-Week here on Oak Rise Cottage blog, as I did three blog posts on the new things happening outside. After sharing on Sunday about how I was developing the new white garden bed, I shared the New Front Garden on Monday. The new Back Yard Enhancements were the subject for Outdoor Wednesday.





Thanks for stopping to see my improving garden. I hope you will come back soon to see more. Your comments are welcome.

16 comments:

Martha said...

Gardens are always changing -- your hydrangeas are beautiful. Endless summer is a great cultivar. I bought two myself for this year.

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Pretty! I love hydrangeas.
Glenda

bj said...

Hi, Carrie, you hydrangeas are so pretty. I am so trying to get one going here in W. Texas but I don't know if it will ever make it. I may just have to keep buying them in pots.....:(
xo bj

ChrisC said...

I wish I could grow hydrangeas here,in Florida.I just don't have the knack,or touch,or whatever.Your's are beautiful,so I shall enjoy looking at your's.

The Pleasures of Homemaking said...

I love hydrangeas! I've often planted grocery store (hot house) shrubs and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. I'm glad your's seem to like where you've put them! The white one is just gorgeous and the Endless Summer is a wonderful one to have as it blooms and blooms!

Manuela

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Just gorgeous. Hydrangeas are so pretty. I would love to have some, but the desert certainly is not the place. Oh well, I loved looking at yours. Hugs, Marty

Deborah said...

Oh my...hydrangeas are just a dream here in the desert. Yours are ever so lovely. I covet them! I love the front step up to your house. Such charm! **blows kisses** Deborah

Skoots1moM said...

your color is amazing...so pretty

thx 4 sharing

Bonnie said...

Pretty flowers! The hydrangeas are lovely! I like them in the big flower pot too!

Brenda Pruitt said...

I don't currently have any hydrangeas, but it's at the top of my list for later. It's so hot here I don't dare plant anything new. Have to wait till it gets cooler, as we have mild winters. Yours are beautiful!
Brenda

Sue said...

Carrie, Thanks for stopping to see Bette's garden. I love sitting in her back yard- it is peaceful. Your hydrangeas really did well, didn't they? My neighbor grows them, does nothing to them, and I always cut a few blooms off to enjoy. The leaves on your hostas are ginormous! They look ribbed, are they? I would've loved to have seen your blue hydrangea. They're my favorites. :-) Sue

jerseygirl211 said...

Oh, how I wish I had your luck with Hydrangeas, I'm not that fortunate. But our Hostas seem to do okay. Thanks for posting yours.

'D'

niartist said...

Oh Carrie! These hydrangeas are fantastic! Scott found some this year at the Home Depot that had been tossed because they had burned in the full sun with no water. I wondered at first, when he brought them home, what the heck he was thinking, but let him have his way when he said he'd plant them on the side of the house - out of sight from the street. THEY ARE GORGEOUS NOW!!! I wish I had planted them in the front, full center - just to show them off. Sometimes Hydrangeas play very nice tricks on ya! :)

~~Rhonda said...

Your hydrangeas are beautiful! Isn't it great to find a bargain and then get to enjoy the benefits for years to come?! ~~Rhonda

Carrie said...

Actually, Sue, the last two are the blue hydrangea. It is turning bluer each day; note the tinge of blue on the outer edges. I should check to see if the soil is acid enough. If the soil is alkaline then the color is pink. I understand aluminum sulfate in the soil helps assure blue blooms.
Carrie

Carrie said...

Actually, Sue, the last two are the blue hydrangea. It is turning bluer each day; note the tinge of blue on the outer edges. I should check to see if the soil is acid enough. If the soil is alkaline then the color is pink. I understand aluminum sulfate in the soil helps assure blue blooms.
Carrie