When the hydrangeas are in bloom here on the west coast we can be pretty certain that the weather is at its finest. It is the season we west coasters long for all year, and through the winter, remember with great fondness.
With summer bbq’s to host and to attend, camping trips or getaways to the cabin to be fit in, countless numbers of water activities to participate in, numerous art & music festivals and street & farmers markets to see (and working too of course!) ~ it is great when the flowers that are in bloom at this time are not too demanding. Hydrangeas fit the bill with their low maintenance, while still providing an exuberant display of huge flower heads in many shapes and colours!
I will take you on a stroll around our garden to show you the selection we have planted ~ if we had more room I’m sure I would try to fit in more varities!
As you can see, the flower heads can be so different from each other ~ as an example, the ones above are a lace cap variety and the one below is an oak leaf hydrangea.
This final photo is ~ borrowed over the fence ~ from the neighbours garden, where they have the most amazing hydrangea bush, it is so laden with blooms that you can barely see any foliage and the blooms are in such a beautiful range of pinks. Possibly lime was added to the soil to change the ph which usually turns them pink, but I believe that you can also buy varieties that will always be pink.
So there you have a taste of the summer hydrangeas in bloom here in our garden on the west coast of British Columbia!
As you most likely know, hydrangeas make fabulous cut flowers, quickly filling vases with their full flowers heads. Although drying hydrangeas for winter bouquets seems to fallen out of fashion, I still love to have one on display somewhere in the house through the other seasons, as a reminder of the summer to come….
Spectacular blooms, Linda, and spectacular photos.
I was out working in my hydrangea garden just this morning before reading your blog. Most of my plants have beautiful, large pink blooms, but there was one interloper whose blooms didn’t have much colour and were much smaller than the rest of the plants. This plant has been bothering me for a couple of weeks now, so today it got removed and replaced with a much nicer plant. Now I will feel much better when I look over at my hydrangea garden.
I also have a beautiful oak leaf hydrangea with very large white blooms. The only problem is that all the blooms are on the back side of the plant because the darling little deer nipped off all the buds at the front of the plant. What can I say? Except que sera, sera. Better luck next year.
You are lucky to have so many different varieties of hydrangeas in your garden, Linda. By the look of your photos, they are putting on a pretty good show so Enjoy!
I can just imagine how lovely your hydrangeas are right now! We should plan a garden tour to each others gardens soon!
Isn’t it frustrating when the deer nibble away so much beauty!? And you are so right, you may have better luck next year with your oak leaf hydrangea as they don’t always seem to eat the same things!