Tag: blooming

A Blooming Orchid and Hydrangea Update

The other day we had a massive storm, with a tornado touchdown just west of where we live. It brought 4.5 inches of water, which filled the drainage ditches and low-lying areas. In Florida, rainwater seeps away into the ground fairly quick and we can handle that amount of rain.

As I was picking up overturned plants and inspecting my gardens, I discovered that my old orchid plant had a stem full of buds! I have two orchid plants that sit outside in the shade of a bigger shrub. Orchids appreciate the humidity, but don’t like direct sunlight. That is the extent of my orchid knowledge, and I moved them outdoors where they can get what they need.

blooming orchid with pink flower
Finally – blooming again

This orchid was a gift from my daughter many years ago when she was a little girl. I’ve kept it, and traveled all over New Hampshire with it in all my moves. Now I (and it) are back in Florida, and the plant seems to be happier. I can’t remember when it bloomed last.

Just behind where the orchid sits in the garden is my hydrangea! It has really grown, but there are no flowers. See my first hydrangea photos here. It remained quite small for a while, but now it is taking off. Maybe the roots have taken hold, and the fertilizer has kicked in.

Florida outdoor hydrangea shrub
Florida outdoor hydrangea shrub

Did you notice my little croton starter plants in the photo above? I have four across the front of the garden (three in the photo). I rooted them from cuttings.

The wind blew the banana tree over a bit so now the bunch of bananas growing is reachable.

banana tree with bunch of bananas
Drooping bunch of bananas

Flowers Blooming in August in My New Hampshire Yard

tall phlox in pink
Pink Phlox

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.

Queen Annes Lace
Queen Annes Lace – A beautiful “weed”

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

My Blue, Endless Summer Hydrangea is Blooming!

blue hydrangeas
My Endless Summer

My blue hydrangea bush is blooming and I want to share my pictures.

I went away on a little vacation a couple of weeks ago and when I returned, I found that my gardens were producing some flowers! And my Endless Summer, blue hydrangea had little flowers.

I’m always eager to see the color of the hydrangea flowers, and I had only grown them for one year previously, so I hoped they would be that same pretty blue. And they are! The bloom in my picture here is so lovely. I will be using it for some new stationery at my BlueHyd store.

In the mean time, I am taking the best photos and making posters to sell at the Zazzle store. I’ve enlarged the images so they will look fine as large size prints.  Just need to get them made.

Limelight: A Beautifully Named Hydrangea

budding limelight hydrangea flower
New Flower on the Limelight

I’ve never grown the Limelight hydrangea nor been around any of the shrubs. I purchased two of this type bush in Spring this year and planted them in front of my house.

Figuring that they would need this summer to grow good roots and become hardy, I didn’t expect flowers, so what a nice surprise to see them begin budding!
Sure enough, more and more little round petals began to form and now both bushes are filled with the elongated, lacey looking flowers. I expect that as the flowers age they will become more green. I am very happy with these healthy looking plants. I highly recommend the Limelight hydrangea as a perennial planting for your yard.

white limelight hydrangea flowers
Lacey white Limelight flowers

Related articles

Bloom Hydrangeas, Bloom !!!

My hydrangea shrubs are blooming!  The Blushing Bride is mostly white with a slight green tint.  Maybe the pink color will show up later.  That is part of the fun in growing hydrangeas – they tend to change color as they age.  They don’t bloom and die and look hideous, they bloom and gradually dry out on the stem, changing slowing day to day.

My blue hydrangea is full of light blue flowers.  It’s really pretty – even though our torrential rainstorm from a couple weeks ago flattened the stems.  The shrub itself is quite small, but it’s giving me some gorgeous photos and pretty color for the front yard.  Can’t wait to see it next year, when it should be larger and more amazing.

Still to come is the Pinky Winky, which has tiny buds just beginning.  I don’t think the Pee Gee or the Limelight (I have 2) will have flowers this year, but I am happy with what I am seeing.  The white flower on the Blushing Bride is huge.

  • my hydrangeas
    Pinky Winky
  • hydrangeas
    PeeGee
  • white hydrangea flower
    The “Blushing Bride”
  • hydrangea flowers in vases
    Hydrangea cuttings
  • light blue hydrangea flowers
    Coming out light blue
  • hydrangea bouquet image
    Ceramic Tile

Recent Blog Posts

This Year We Get The Flowers

blue hydrangea flower
The Propagated Shrub is Showing New Blooms

Recently our weather in the northeast has improved greatly. After a very rainy and quite cold June, July is off to a much better start and the hydrangeas love it.

Here are my latest photos of the hydrangea plant I propagated in 2009. It’s doing great and I’ve been waiting for the buds to pop open so I can see what color they will be. Sometimes the soil difference will cause the flowers to change color, but in this case the blooms are blue, just like the parent plant it came from.

If you have a favorite hydrangea shrub, or know of someone who has some beauties growing in their yard, try your hand at propagating (starting one plant from another) yourself. I’ve only done the root layering method and actually it had already rooted for me on it’s own, but taking leaf cuttings is another way to do this and the Nantucket Hydrangea site has a useful section on how to start plants from leaf cuttings.

Below is another photo of this same bush in growing year #2.

hydrangea shrub with blooms
New Shrub - Full of Flowers