august – Hydrangeas Blue

As summer is winding down, I am taking stock of the flowers in my yard that are blooming in August. In fall, here in New England the tall phlox are looking lovely. In my yard, dark and light pink blossoms brighten the landscape. I also have creeping phlox which blooms in Spring.

As for perennials, the Hostas are also blooming, the few I have that are growing well. Some of them died due to the cold winter.

Hydrangeas: The Pinky Winky shrub is full of white flowers, which will be turning pink sometime in the future. The white Blushing Bride in the backyard has three big, white blooms, with a small bud just beginning. Out front, the blue Endless Summer has only two small flowers, and one little bud. The blue flowers are fading to light purple. Click the link above to see recent pictures of my hydrangea shrubs.

Black-Eyed Susans are blooming everywhere. They seem to be the brightest yellow flowers in yards right now. I have two small plants, which I tend to forget about until August.

black eyed susan flower — Black-eyed Susan

Day Lilies are also still flowering. I have 8 or 10 plants with peach colored flowers along the front. All those plants came from one, single pot of day lilies I bought three years ago. I divided the stalks, planted them, and then divided them again. Lilies should be divided every so often. My yellow Stella d’oro lilies have gone by.

The annuals I plant each spring – Nasturtiums and Impatiens – are looking wonderful in August. This year I planted the seeds from last year’s ‘Alaska’ nasturtium, and ended up with a beautiful and colorful border along the backyard. All that color for free! I love it. Soon I’ll collect the seeds from these, and plant more next spring.

flowers of fall — Nasturtiums and Marigolds (and Skittle the Cat)

The marigolds are big and full, and still sending out new flowers. Marigolds bloom more if they are dead-headed.

I have a volunteer Queen Annes Lace that is still blooming too. I love these beautiful “weeds” with the big lacy flowers. If they should happen to grow in your yard, I suggest you leave them alone and let them bloom where they grow. Hopefully it will spread so I’ll have more of it next year.

The blue hydrangeas are turning pretty colors as Fall approaches here in New Hampshire. The petals begin to take on a pink, purple, and sometimes green, tint. It’s always fun to see how the flowers will fade.

blue hydrangea in fall — Blue Hydrangea Changing Color in Fall

hydangeas in pots — Newly purchased hydrangeas in pots

In 2011 I bought a house and began to fill the yard with perennials. I had a lot of cleaning up to do, as the gardens were pretty ugly – but not as ugly as the house! In between fixing up the inside of my home, I spent time beautifying my new yard.

That first summer was spent clearing away old growth and garden edging, but in Spring 2012 I was ready to buy some perennials, and one of the first shrubs I wanted was the hydrangea.

It is now 2015, just three short years later, and I thought I’d share pictures of those plants, and their offspring (propagated plants). I also want to post an update to acknowledge my favorites, problems, etc. to share with readers.

First, the Blushing Bride, hydrangea macrophylla. The pictures below were all taken in August, 2015. The first is the original shrub I bought from a local nursery. The next two are pictures of the two I propagated from the original. I planted them last year, and as you can see, they are almost as large as the original. In fact, one of the ‘babies’ is blooming, and the others are not.
These are beautiful shrubs, with large green leaves, and I highly recommend this perennial for the yard.

hydrangea perennial — Blushing Bride – original shrub

white flowering hydrangea — Blushing Bride propagated plant

hydrangea shrub — Blushing Bride baby #2 – no blooms this year

The blue-flowering hydrangea, ‘Endless Summer’ is pictured here. It’s not flowering much this year, but I blame the bad winter. There are two small flowers at the bottom. I think in time, as it ages, this will be a more beautiful shrub. I also cut down a larger bush that was preventing it from getting sun. That may help with blooms next year.

Please see my next post and read my review, with pictures, of two more hydrangeas, the paniculatas – the Pinky Winky and Limelight – which have elongated blooms.