More Pictures of Blue Hydrangeas

Photography of pretty blue hydrangea flowers growing on the shrub.

I am looking forward to growing my own hydrangeas, now that I have my own home. My only experience has been in the yard at my rental house, where I was less than enthusiastic about gardening.  However, that is where I discovered my love for the hydrangea shrub and the beautiful blue flowers it produces.
blue hydrangea flower
A small, blue hydrangea flower. I like this picture (above) because the edges of the petals are brownish which give the flower a look of being outlined. I don’t know why they are like that, but I thought it was unusual.

Blue hydrangea shrub
Blue Hydrangea shrub in bloom

This photo was taken just before I moved out of my rental. As you can see, the shrub has lots of flowers, but they are fairly small and more of a light blue than a deep blue.

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A bud is as pretty as the full bloom

I lived at the rental house in New Hampshire for three years, so I was able to photograph these flowers in various stages of growth and color.  It seemed that each year they did something different!

That is the fun part of watching a hydrangea bush bloom, especially this variety which can give you blooms that are large or small, bright or light in color.  And they will change color as Fall approaches.  In fact, watching what happens to theses plants in Fall is exciting, and has given me some wonderful photos of unique flower colors.
(All photography on this page is mine and is NOT free to use.)

blue flower in the sun
Bright blue hydrangea in full sun
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Endless Summer Hydrangeas For Northern Gardens

Hydrangea macrophylla
Image via Wikipedia

If you live in a very cold climate as I do, one hydrangea that should flourish in your yard would be the Endless Summer (Hydrangea macrophylla) variety. It is loved for it’s profuse blue flowers, but acidic soil is needed for the blue color.

The tricky part is knowing whether the flowers will bloom as pink or blue.  That will depend on the acidity of your soil. If your soil has a low ph level (5.2-5.5) your flowers will be blue, but any higher and you may get a pink and blue combination or all pink blooms. The soil where I live in New Hampshire is naturally acidic, so my Endless Summer hydrangeas bloom blue.

Not every type of hydrangea shrub will like the cold winters of New England, so be sure to do your research before buying and make sure you are investing in a plant that will not die over it’s first winter in a northern garden.

The Endless Summer shrub will bloom from new growth (as well as old) in the Spring, so while the shrub sits buried under 2 feet of snow for months you won’t have to worry if the stems break. It will come back. They thrive in planting zones 4-9 so they can take the heat too!

blue hydrangea 100
My Endless Summer Hydrangea bush

Shipping From Online Growers is a Problem

Park Village recently received recognition fro...
Image via Wikipedia

I planned to buy my Fall plants from online sources, but I am finding this to be a BIG problem.  Miller Nurseries has been a favorite of mine but they won’t ship until next Spring.  I don’t want to wait that long.  I want to get started planting my perennial gardens now.  Also the Arbor Day Foundation site has lots of what I’d like to have, but they don’t ship until November.  What’s the point?  I might have snow on the ground by then.  I just don’t get it.

I am also having lots of trouble finding hydrangeas to buy at this time of year in my area of New Hampshire.

I realize that the growing season up here is short.  I also realize that most people are done gardening by now.  But some of us aren’t and why won’t you sell to us?  I don’t want to plant my shrubs in 20 degree weather in November.  It’s not fun for me and won’t be too great for the shrubs either!

I am disappointed, but still hopeful.  I picked up a nice, dark red flowering Rhododendron at Tenney Farms today and a rust red Day Lily.  I’ll get more Rhodos for the side yard as I pass by the Farm, but they are expensive.  I could really be saving money by ordering online – if only they would ship to me!

**Update:  I have found a couple of online places (links on the sidebar) who will ship in August.

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My Perennial Choices to Plant This Fall

Convallaria majalis cv. Plena
Image via Wikipedia - Lily of the Valley - for Shade

Besides Spring, the end of summer is a great time to plant and divide perennials. The hot days of summer are not the time to consider adding a garden or moving plants around. In fact, when planting a new perennial shrub or annual, it’s best to do so on a cool, cloudy day. Or plant them in the evening when they have the night to adjust to their new spot.

I was thinking about this when I disregarded my own advice and uprooted a little azalea I found among the overgrown front border at my new home. Considering where the poor thing was, I felt that it had a better chance in a new spot in the sun by the driveway. So I planted it mid-day but gave it lots of water and covered the top with leaf mold.

Digging holes for planting up here in the Granite State (New Hampshire) means dealing with rocks. Lots of rocks. In fact it can take me up to 10 minutes to dig a decent size hole for a quart size root ball because I have to pull all the rocks out of the hole and usually cut some roots that are criss-crossing the opening.

Next I add some good dirt. It can come from a store or from your compost or from another section of your yard. And I add bonemeal to strengthen the roots. Always mix it in well with the dirt in the hole. And then water – really well. Soaking the entire root system is important when first planting something. In fact, if you bought a plant and the pot is dried out, give it lots of water before transplanting.

Since I am starting from scratch at my place, I need to find some shade loving perennials for the front under a line of trees along the road. I also have lots of sun in the back so a few sun-loving perennials will go back there to grow among my vegetable garden.

This is what I will shop for this Fall and next Spring:
Shade plants – Astilbe, Hostas, Lily of the Valley and Bleeding Heart.

Sun plants – Coneflowers, Monarda (red flowers for hummingbirds), Peonies and Hydrangeas.

These may be hard to find at this time of year and most likely they won’t be looking too good if they are dormant and without blooms, but as long as they look healthy they will come back next spring. Depending on the cost, I hope to add all these favorites to my zone 5 landscape before winter. Pictures to come!

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A Yard Without Hydrangeas – The Horror!

View out the door
Time to Make Some Changes in the Yard

Now that I have moved out of my rental, I live in a flowerless environment.   I have a yard without hydrangeas and in fact, there are no flowering plants.  The house I bought has been sitting empty for about a year and apparently the previous owners didn’t believe in growing flowering shrubs. Two huge tree looking bushes were blocking the front windows (until I trimmed them- quite a bit – you can see one of them in my photo) and the only other plants in the front are holly. Oh, I did find a small azalea amongst the weeds and dug it up and gave it a sunnier location. I imagine it will be light purple since most azaleas I see in the north seem to be. I’ll have to wait until next Spring to find out.

My landlady had talked about letting me dig up part of one of her hydrangeas, but I got too busy to even think about doing that, so I came to the new place empty-handed.  Now the search is on for blue hydrangeas of my own.  I am not searching too frantically, since the front yard still needs some work – maybe grading – so the planting might have to wait.  I’m also watching the sun to find the best locations for planting.

Also, I spent 5 hours in the yard on Saturday and have been in pain ever since.  I should know better.  This body is not used to yard work, so I will have to remember to pace myself and stop after an hour or two.  Also, I’m not as young as I’d like to be!  A nice reader suggested I do a soil test and that reminded me that we have a great resource here in New Hampshire at the UNH campus.  The UNH Cooperative Extension will test soil for you (if you live in the area).

As I find good places to buy hydrangeas (and other plants), I’ll be sure to share with you.

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Too Late To Garden?

A couple of daylilies (Hemerocallis) in spring...
Image via Wikipedia

It’s July already and I just moved out of my rental and into a new home! Yes, I am very excited. All the moving and unpacking has kept me away from the computer and more importantly, it’s kept me out of the yard. And this yard – my new yard – needs a lot of help. Not a flower is to be seen, and all the shrubs – ahh, small trees – are overgrown.

This house sat empty for about a year and apparently the previous owners weren’t very good at outdoor upkeep so I have my hands full.

Although I’d love to get to gardening, there is an issue with grading the land to get rainwater away from the house so I won’t do too much until that is taken care of.

It feels like I’ve spent this entire year buying a house. I started looking in March and then found this place in April, and just moved in July 11th. I’ve missed planting, weeding, picking flowers and all the summer fun of blueberry picking and mountain hiking. All my efforts have been towards home-ownership. It’s well worth it, but I have a feeling of not living among the world.

So, is it too late, when August is right around the corner, to think about gardening? No!!! In fact, I know that many plants need to be planted in Fall. It’s the second best time of year to plant (other than Spring).

Unfortunately, most of the great looking plants have been bought already, but the positive aspect would be finding bargains in the perennial section.  I was at Tenney Farms in Antrim the other day and picked up a couple of yellow (Stella d’oro) day-lilies, a white phlox, and red coneflower.  The hydrangeas have all been bought, of course, but I have other favorites and the Stella d’oro will bloom for such a long time.  I also love daylilies because they are easy to divide and one plant can become several over the years.

So it’s not too late to garden but planting hydrangeas might have to wait until next Spring.

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