My Hydrangea Obsession

I’ve written about why I became interested in growing hydrangeas and I wonder now if it has gotten a little out of hand! Yesterday, I walked my three-quarter acre property and tallied up my hydrangea collection. Sixty three and counting! Here’s the list!

4-Little Limelight – local nursery

3-Macrophyllas lacecap 2 blues, 1 purple

1-City Line “Mars” 2011

5-Schnee balls macrophylla, (white blooms, ruffled blossoms) 2011

1-Limelight panicle

1-Mom’s hydrangea (funeral bouquet 2001)

1-Oak-leaf Ruby Slippers (2004)

2-Mariesii variegated

1-Little Quick Fire Proven Winners (2016) local nursery

1-Oakleaf Syke’s Dwarf

2-Blue Billows Mountain Hydrangea – original parents Wayside Garden

2-Endless Summer (ES) Let’s Dance Blue Jangles (2019)

5-Macrophyllas propagated from cuttings (2018)

1-Walmart rescue (purple) (2018)

1-Gift macrophylla propagation (2019)

1-Vanilla strawberry (2017)

2-ES Proven Winners Tuff Stuff Ah ha, double bloomer (2019)

1-Annabelle (2015) MG Plant Sale

3-Macrophyllas unknown variety, traditional

2-ES variety unknown. Slow growing

8-Blue billows mountain by propagation from original parents

1-Mountain lacecap Greywood – Wayside Gardens (2002)

1-Oak-leaf Snow Queen (2017)

1-Mystery layering

1-Pinky Winky (2018) Local nursery

2-Nikko Blue (2002)

2-Incrediball h.arborescens

4-Pistachio

1-Merritt’s Supreme (2017)

2-Oak-leaf “Snowflake” double bloomer (in transit 2019)

I’ve obtained these specimens from local nurseries, mail order, propagation from friends, and those I have created myself from layerings and cuttings! I currently have a dozen cuttings in a tub and it looks like all but two will make it!

The challenge now is to find a place for all of these. I would say half of my collection is small and in that “getting established” period of its life.

Back when I did not know what I was doing, I planted some macrophyllas in high heat, strong sun locations. Most are doing okay, but take daily and sometimes twice-a-day waterings. I doubt at this stage they would take to transplanting, but in leaving them where I have, I am creating additional work for myself down the line. I have taken layering and cutting samples from all of these, as I may try to replace them with paniculata.

Here are some of my favorite photos:

Proven Winners Little Quick Fire panicle

Variegated Mariesii. This layers very easily. Much of the new growth is not variegated.

Proven Winners City Line “Mars”

This was a pink florist hydrangea bouquet that was for my mother’s funeral in 2001

Unknown blue macrophylla in foreground. Oakleaf “Syke’s Dwarf” in background

For me a “generic” macrophylla, bought and planted before I knew to record the variety!

Pistachio

Proven Winners “Incrediball” hydrangea arborescens

A young Merritt’s Supreme blossom

Twist and Shout

Oakleaf, I believe is Snow Queen is decidedly lime in July first summer bloom!

Pinky Winky

Pinky Winky first year in the ground! Wiley’s Market Middletown, Delaware

Little Quick Fire July

Vanilla Strawberry or Strawberry Sundae from Wayside aGardens ma order

Ruby Slippers oakleaf. Last year, I did not water this faithfully and it went from white to brown quickly this year I am watering it every day and it helps sustain the pink part of its season.

Little Lime in early July. Despite its 4 foot maximum height, mine are shooting up stems that are over 5 feet!

Introducing Master Gardener Minute

Being a social media enthusiast (I graduated from the University of Delaware  Social Media Strategic Social Media Marketing course in 2014) I kicked around some ideas to share Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener program on various platforms.

Working with county agents, we developed the idea of a Master Gardener Minute, using the hashtag #MGMinute. One minute or under, the short informative video series will cover popular garden topics at a length suitable for Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, as well as YouTube.

Yesterday, I shot a few segments with Delaware Master Gardener Wendy Ferranti and here is the first roll out. What do you think? What future topics would you like to see?

Growing fresh foods with the New Castle County Master Gardeners

So proud of the partnerships Delaware Master Gardeners cultivates. Gardens are meant to share with others! Read this lovely article from the Food Bank of Delaware blog! Kudos to all for what you do!

Food Bank of Delaware

New Castle County Master Gardeners have been working hard all summer tending to their demonstration garden outside the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension office in Newark.

Produce grown in the garden is donated to the Food Bank and Little Sisters of the Poor. Last year, the group donated close to 900 pounds!

Master Gardener Rick Judd leads the group of dedicated volunteers who spend time weeding, watering, pruning, harvesting and more to make sure the demonstration garden is in tip-top shape. The garden serves three purposes – teaches the community best practices for vegetable and fruit gardening, shows how easy it is to compost and provides an opportunity for Master Gardeners to donate fresh foods to Delawareans in need.

The 288-square-foot garden has produced more than 300 pounds of food for the Food Bank so far this year. Rick says the gardeners are now harvesting some of their heaviest crops…

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Dragonfly

Walfred Photography

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Iris haiku

Graceful violet

Fluidly dance on May’s stage

Spring’s ballerina!

 

Siberian iris from my back yard

My original photo above, processed with the Waterlogue photo app. One of my favorite photo tools

 

Grilling on Fourth of July? Try lemon balm pesto.

The answer to my prayers! I have lemon balm growing everywhere! Participating on Monday’s #gardenchat on Twitter, I discovered this recipe and cannot wait to try it!

MissingHenryMitchell

The Fourth of July is a big day for grilling in the US–although just about any summertime evening when it isn’t storming makes a pretty compelling candidate. I love grilling foods, from meats, fish, and shellfish to vegetables and fruits. More than that, I like to create my own marinades and sauces with the herbs I grow. If you’re looking for something fresh, summery, and different that’s also extremely easy to make, give my lemon balm pesto a try.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is an herb in the mint family. Its small white flowers attract bees and other pollinators, but you’ll be drawn by the lemony scent of the foliage as you brush it with your fingers. It is reputed to be effective as a mosquito repellant when the leaves are rubbed on the skin. But more than all of that, you’ll like the bright…

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Hydrangea Haiku

Clouds of vibrant blue!

I wish they’d burst open and

soak me with blue rain!

  

Longwood Haiku

Soft cups of color
dance to the “oohs” and the “ahs”
of Longwood en masse

Knock Out Roses

We have several knock out roses in shades of deep pink and dark magenta. A rose is just a rose, but I enjoy going out and photographing them in their various stages of development, and on occasion I tinker with them in processing. Here are a few images of the roses I grow.

Taken with my Nikon and a macro lens, i desaturated the vivid pink color into a muted rose. The decision made the image pop

Rain changes the dynamic of how flowers are perceived. Immediately after the rain stopped, out I go with my camera. I Iove how the droplets cling to the petals

This rose is on its way out. I enjoy capturing the entire life cycle – not just the peak. There is an ethereal beauty to this rose’s last attempts to hold on

Robin Williams and Me: The Killer Among Us.

I came across this essay after writing Gardening and Grief. I thought it was worth sharing.

Psych Circus

Why Robin Williams?

I’m not a fan of celebrity worship, nor do I feel especially comfortable perhaps taking advantage of human suffering and loss by writing about a total stranger’s suicide.  That said, Robin’s suicide disturbs me. It touches a sore nerve, it hurts. He seemed a safe, reliable positive out there in the world, a source of joy and humor and, well, life. He was fine as far as I knew, just fine, then BAM!: dead. It’s shocking, saddening, makes the world seem less safe, less reliable.

Why me?

Clearly there is no “Robin Williams and me”, no relationship beyond talented performer and fan. I use the phrase in another sense. Why does his death hit me harder than most? What does it mean?

Events’ meaning partially come from our reactions to them, our responses. Like so many, I have thought over Robin’s many fine performances, the incredible eruption…

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