My Hydrangeas in May 2014

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The Pinky Winky in May

It’s May and I have been getting outdoors to check on my hydrangeas and do some yard clean up. This photo of my Pinky Winky hydrangea plant was taken about a week ago, but it still looks about the same. Some leaf buds are forming along the stems, but that’s about it. The Limelight plants look about the same.

I decided to prune them in late Fall last year instead of waiting until Spring. The reason was mainly that when I left the dried flowers on the long stems of the limelight variety, the snow would weigh them down. So I pruned them for the winter and hopefully they will still bloom nicely.

My endless summer plants have larger leaves protruding up from the base of the plant and the Blushing Bride has little baby plants that are rooted. I plant to dig them up and transplant them once I have a spot for them and the weather has warmed.

All but the Pee Gee are still growing and looking good. I can’t say as much for some of my other perennials.   The rhododendrons that I was hoping would get big and beautify the yard are practically dead.  Apparently deer consider them a delicious meal and they chew off every leaf during winter. Even with netting over them, they have been devoured.  If the plants survive the summer I will try covering them with burlap next winter.  Don’t want to think about winter yet though!

Gardening in Small Spaces

Each year I face the challenge of gardening in small spaces. Nearly three years ago I moved into my long-awaited home. It has the smallest usable yard space of any house I have ever lived in. The lot size is just about an acre, but much of that is down a hill and in the woodsy wetlands area. My front yard is large enough for me, but I wish I had more to work with in the back. Each Spring I must find the best ways to rotate and plant vegetables which will get enough sun to grow well.

backyard garden
Small Garden Space

I have a family of three, but my kids are not as excited about eating fresh garden vegetables as I am. I don’t have to grow much of a crop of anything – just enough for me. And that is a good thing, since I don’t have the space for it.

Last year I tried fabric pot gardening and it worked out well. You can see in my picture above that I had one large round raised garden. I used the smaller garden bags to grow potatoes, beans and carrots. The nice thing was that I just set the pots in the sunniest areas along the deck, and had instant gardens!

The rest of my planting is done along the strip of ground at the edge of a drop off which is loaded with blackberry briars. With all the trees growing nearby, the lower part of the yard is too shady to plant anything. It doesn’t leave much room to do everything I’d like, but I do get some nice veggies by mid to end of summer.  And I put up a cement block raised bed out front which helps expand the crops too.

Shop For Hydrangea Plants Now

Buy your potted hydrangea plants soon. The nursery will have a large selection of hydrangeas, along with other plants, as Mother’s Day is on the horizon. Many people forego the gift of expensive cut flowers for something that will last much longer. Moms who garden may appreciate a new perennial for the yard. (Offer to plant it for her too!)

hydangeas in pots
Newly purchased hydrangeas in pots

Flower shops will have blooming plants or cut flowers, but nurseries will have shrubs to be planted with flowers appearing later on this summer.  Planting them now will get them ready to bloom soon.  Even small plants usually will have blooms the year they are planted.

We’ve had such a cold April that it’s been a little difficult to believe it really is Spring. Of course it’s still too cold to plant most things outdoors, but I’m almost ready to buy seedlings and set up my little deck green house. I won’t be purchasing anything big to add to the yard this year. The deer have eaten all my rhododendrons, and any new hydrangeas I put it will be propagated from the old ones. I will be concentrating on growing as many vegetables as I can.  I bought a new raised bed made of black fabric and can’t wait to get some dirt to put into it.  Then the soil can warm up and be ready for planting by the end of the month.

The hydrangeas in the picture above were some I bought in Spring of 2012.  Last year they looked wonderful – the flowers in the bouquet below all came from my yard last year (2013).   And I hope that this year they will be even bigger and better.

white, pink, blue hydrangeas vase
Hydrangea cuttings in a vase

Endless Summer Goes From Blue to Lavender, Pink or Green

Color changes in the hydrangea flower as the season progresses brings green, pink and blue blooms.

This page is about growing hydrangeas in my New England yard. The soil is naturally acidic and it is not difficult to grown blue flowering hydrangeas. However, as the season progresses, those blue flowers turn into pinks and greens and even unique blue colors.

lavender hydrangea flower
This flower went from blue to lavender

My beautiful blue Endless Summer hydrangea flower turned to light lavender as last season progressed. Sometimes the blues turn pink, or even green. It’s what makes growing hydrangeas so exciting, the fact that flowers will start out one color and turn to something completely different.

I love this gorgeous light purple flower. The newly planted shrub is not very large and last year it had only about 5 or 6 blooms. The heavy weight of the flowers on the smaller stems weighed them down, but each year the plant will do better.

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Endless Summer that has turned light green in Fall

Right now it’s too early to see much happening with my hydrangea bushes. I keep coming across pictures I took last summer and fall, so I’ll have to share those for the time being.

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A blue flower drying on the stem in Autumn turns all kinds of gorgeous colors

I won’t be buying any more new plants, as I am currently on a very tight budget, but I plan to propagate hydrangeas from the plants I already have.

Propagating from the endless summer and mop-head varieties is easy, but it takes time and some planning.  Some people start plants from cuttings, but I have not had luck with that.

Another flowering hydrangea in my yard is fun to watch. The Pink Winky has elongated flowers that turn from white to pink. It is a gorgeous bush.

Keep Reading

My newer blog posts are about gardening in my Florida backyard.

Good Bye Winter – Pictures of Snow

snow winter
Late Winter Snow

In this post I am saying good-bye to winter. Here in the northeast we had a cold winter with plenty of snow, and as usually happens we got a coating of snow in April. The light-post picture here was taken February 14th, 2014 and the image below was taken April 16th.

Whenever Spring arrives I hear everyone say how awful the past winter was. It doesn’t seem to matter what the winter was really like, it was always “the worst”. I don’t think we got as much snow this year as last year. And it was cold, that’s true, but it’s winter in New England! Shouldn’t it be cold? There were no power outages where I live due to nor easter’s, which I would consider to be bad. I think the middle of the country got it a lot worse in places, so I am thankful for the winter we had.

Oh well, next we’ll have a horribly hot summer according to “them”. Even if it’s just normal with some hot days, many people will be dramatic and think it was just awful too. Why complain? We choose to live here and part of the reason is the beautiful area and nice, yes nice, weather.

After living in central Florida for 27 years, I think the changes in seasons are nice. I expect snow and cold in winter – imagine! I have to shovel and lug wood myself all winter and I have to cut my own grass, stack wood, and tend my own gardens in summer. I don’t have it exceptionally easy, but I enjoy the different seasons which bring different needs. And I’m always thankful for a body that lets me do it! You want to see bad weather? Live in Florida!

I plan to write about hydrangeas and other flowers very soon!

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April Snowfall

Pictures of the Lenton Rose

The unique lenton rose flower will poke out of the snow in early spring.

This is a photo blog post showing some images of the two Lenton rose (hellebore) plants growing in my yard. This is a new plant for me to grow, but I love the fact that the buds form and flowers bloom in mid-April. Sometimes there is still snow on the ground!

It’s a pleasant thing to find flowers blooming after a long, cold winter.

Hellebore Flowers are Unique

Besides blooming early in Spring before most other perennials, the flowers of the Lentos Rose are unique.

Flower colors can be pink, beige, white, light green or spotted. The flowers will stay on the plant and turn color too.

lenton rose spring buds
blooming lenton rose
lenton rose

Early blooming hellebores can bloom before daffodils and tulips!

single lenton rose flower
lenton rose green flowers

The flower is unique and comes in a variety of colors.  The light green flower is coveted by brides for their wedding bouquets.  Finding green flowers in nature is always a treat, but the light pink and spotted varieties are stunning as well.

This is one plant that I would like to have more of in my garden. This perennial is easy to grow and blooms profusely. As you can see, the leaves are nice and green even after being covered in snow all winter!   After the flowering stops, the green leaves continue to grow all summer and add interest to the landscape.

I’ll keep my eyes open for other varieties when I visit the local nursery this year.