Now I'm stuck on hydrangeas. Stuck isn't the right word but you know what I mean. Stuck as in infatuated with, the nature of infatuation being fleeting. It's the flower du jour! I've always loved hydrangeas, and we'll have a story about them in the paper this Friday. (See link below)
(http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_design/20070615_High_on_hydrangeas.html)
We had a handful of China-blue mopheads growing up and now I have probably a dozen different kinds scattered about my own garden. Every time I think the lacecaps are my favorite, I get a glimpse of one of the oakleafs taking hold and they become my number one. But then there's the pink mophead, a giant unruly thing that started five years ago as one of those single-bloom, foil plants for Mother's Day.
A lot of gardeners have no luck planting those holiday plants. Undoubtedly, they're tortured and manipulated to bloom for the holiday with no thought of what happens next. But I was lucky, and the big rose-colored flowerhead turned into a sprawling specimen that probably ought to be pruned. But I just love the way it spreads and fills in the gaps on either side and casually encroaches on the pathway. There's something very romantic about it.
This morning I took a few photos before heading to work. Found myself wanting to keep photographing, but I'd already decided to concentrate on hydrangeas today.
The gardening season is all about waves of beauty. First come the so-called ephemerals in early spring, the crocuses and their pals, followed by other lovely things ... tulips and daffodils, magnolias, forsythia and foam flower, which is a little native I've adopted in my shady area. Lilacs. Spirea. They keep coming.
It seems as if everyone else's azaleas and rhododendrons are long over but mine have just peaked. Now it's rose time, and hydrangea time, and the clematis are out, as well. And I see buds on lots of other things. The next wave of blooms will emerge soon.
I'm experimenting with more flowers grown from seed this year, and already the old-fashioned sweet peas are blooming. What fragrance they have! Nasturtiums with their lilypad leaves are up and my sunflower seeds somehow escaped the squirrels this year. Last year, they ate every one. This year, the seedlings are six inches tall and intact.
Sunflowers catch a later wave, you see. The anticipation is delicious.
