Sunday 1 February 2015

In my summer garden



If you are visiting from Vicki's Grow Your Blog party
my post and giveaway are here
My giveaway (see the side bar) is open to everyone
even if you aren't involved in the party
you are very welcome to enter - no strings attached!



I have two 'Bridal Bouquet' hydrangeas
in my garden.
In the beginning of summer they are white
starting off with tight buds
which develop into huge white mop heads.
Wonderful for picking.




This year we have had a particularly hot and 
very dry summer in NZ
and the flower heads have taken on
such pretty pastel colours - I love them.
This has never happened before,
I am aware their colour is effected by the
pH of the soil.

I'll let you know what happens next year.



The hydrangea above is Macrophylla
which has a pretty colour variation as well.
Do you grow hydrangeas in your garden
if so which variety?
They seem to thrive anywhere in my garden
one can't ask more than that!

I'm joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday
and
Judith for Mosaic Monday


Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt


Shane








50 comments:

  1. Beautiful and some of my favorites too.
    :-)

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  2. WOW! They sure are beautiful. Interesting how the weather appears to have changed the colours!

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  3. Shane, your hydrangeas, in all their various stages, are very pretty! It must be exciting to step into the garden every morning, to see what new hues have appeared on their petals! I've been told that they are quite easy to grow, and I must remember to plant some this year!

    I'm visiting via Karen's today, and wishing you a bright and lovely Sunlit Sunday!

    Hugs,
    Poppy

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  4. Thank you for reminding us in the cold dark north that there is light and colour and it will be coming soon! I adore your hydrangeas, my favourite flowers for drawing and growing in the garden.

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  5. Dear Shane I just love your white Hydrangea. Since living in France I have never been successful with them keeping their original colour. I've tried all sorts of methods even to buying another white one and keeping it in a pot that even turned blue.. Loved your photos especially the mosaic.
    Enjoy your Sunday. best wishes Barbara x

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  6. Good morning, love your hydrangeas!
    I have several in my garden mostly pink although there's one that tends to go blue quite easily and another that stays pure white throughout the summer.
    bon dimanche.

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  7. With all the snow and cold and darkness we have at the moment, one almost forgets that in some parts of the world it's summer, a warm, beautiful summer! :)
    Thank you for these wonderful images, dear Shane!

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  8. I love hydrangeas, and they are very prolific in Cornwall. I have various colours including a white 'popcorn' variety.
    I gave a friend a beautiful pink bush as a new home gift. Five years later...it is a deep blue!

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  9. I love hydrangeas, and the ones I have seen in New Zealand are superb, Shane. The pastel colours do look very pretty. We have two puny little hydrangeas, who occasionally have a pink bloom, but of course they are struggling in the wrong climate! xx

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  10. Shane, your hydrangeas are so pretty, thanks for sharing them, it's so good to see them during these cold days here in the US.

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  11. I have two or three (or four) favorite flowers -- can't just pick one! But the hydrangea may be at the top of the list -- showy and beautiful -- just one or two make an enormous bouquet! Yours are fabulous!

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  12. Beautiful study of hydrangea. It will be months before I see something as pretty as this where I live.

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  13. Hi Shane, I LOVE all of your beautiful hydrangeas! My mom used to have a few in her yard and I would love to make wreath and also dry them for pretty bouquets! Have a wonderful day.
    Julie

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  14. I just have generic blue hydrangea. But there are so many beautiful varieties. I love seeing yours.

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  15. Lucky you, dear Shane, to have such beautiful Hydrangeas, in your garden, they are so wonderful, and oh so lovely that the beauty of whites, turned into blue and pink pastels, this year.
    What a beautiful view into your garden.
    Hugs from Dorthe

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  16. Yours are so lush. Mine are about the size of my fist. On Martha's Vineyard the blue ones are sought after for weddings. I've been told they will often come to the mainland and steal them from people's gardens. Sounds a bit far fetched, doesn't it.

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  17. I love hydrangeas, but so do the deer.... :-(

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  18. Thanks for sharing you beautiful flowers with us. They are fantastic. Have a blessed day and a wonderful month of February. Madeline

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  19. I really do like hydrangeas and those pastel shades are just so beautiful. Suzy x

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  20. Hello Shane - I adore your gorgeous flowers! Sure wish I could grow those here. Sending love, Rhonda

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  21. Such beauty and you have captured it perfectly (of course!) in your stunning photos dear Shane!
    Wishing you lovely summer days full of blossoms and light and some rain too as it sounds like you could use some.
    Happy February to you and yours...
    oxo

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  22. Shane, what stunning photos and such a beautiful selection of hydrangea 'poses' you provided. Have a wonderful week!

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  23. Love the sweet colors of your hydrangeas.

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  24. So pretty. I have a couple of hydrangea bushes in my garden. They bloom bright blue, which I think means we have acidic soil. Just now they're still holding onto some of last year's heads -- all brown -- but the leaf buds are starting to swell.

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  25. Beautiful photos and colours, Shane. I have a large, almost tree, hydrangea and I think it's an Annabelle but I'm not sure. It's quite old and I've lost the tag. I also have a blue Endless Summer which I love and it blooms really well. Hydrangea is one of my favourite shrubs! I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
    Hugs.
    Pam

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  26. Hello Shane - I love hydrangeas and have several bushes of them. They are now brown and empty but I know there is life there somewhere. How lovely to see your blooms, so lush and pretty. The pastel colours are a real treat.
    I have no idea what kind of hydrangeas mine are, but your pretty blooms are some I might look for in the spring. Can't have too many hydrangeas in my opinion.
    Have a wonderful week. I'm catching up from being away and enjoyed reading a little more about you in the grow your blog event.

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  27. Dearest Shane,
    In our garden we do grow quite a variety of Hydrangeas. If you type the word 'Our Hydrangeas' into the search box at the top right on my blog, you will be able to see 3 posts...
    Love your photos and we have 6 different ones in our garden.
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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  28. Your garden is just pure beauty. I have tried to grow hydrangeas but our climate is too dry and hot. Only one has barely survived under our Japanese maple tree it is blue. All my white ones died.

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  29. Alas I have no garden anymore (unless you count a tomato plant and a few herbs in the summer). Never could manage to grow hydrangeas for some reason.

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  30. Shane I adore hydrangeas, each little flower is so special. I too picked a few white hydrangeas this week end that are changing to a beautiful old worldy vintage colour. Hope they stay in the vase for a while. They give me lots of pleasure, Your plants are superb. Shirley

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  31. I was won over by hydrangeas about 20 years ago as I sailed in towards the Azores Islands. The hydrangeas are used as fences and birder markets between fields. They are vibrant blues and purples there and the sight from afar of green fields zig zagged by theses abundant flowers will stay with me forever. You have two beautiful plants

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  32. I do love hydrangeas! They don't do well in our garden here, but in a previous garden I had one that was undecided whether to be pink or blue - I guess the soil was very neutral in PH. Yours are beautiful aren't they! xx

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  33. I love Hydrangea! Our new garden has one, but I'm not sure of the variety. I'll be adding a few when planting season arrives.

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  34. Hello Shane, your hydrangeas are beautiful. I love the pretty colors! I wish I had some growing in my yard now! Lovely photos, have a happy new week!

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  35. Hydrangeas are my favourite shrub Shane, and I'm glad your's have given you an extra show of colour this summer. H. paniculata grows best for me since it can overwinter our cold temperatures.
    Thank you for linking to Mosaic Monday.

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  36. So lovely mosaics of beautiful hydrangeas. I just love them too and have some in my garden. Have a nice day!

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  37. I adore hydrangeas but many don't enjoy our winter...I hope they come back this year as they have been flowering less and less.

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  38. How I love hydrangeas, and I do hope that my only bush will blossom with shades of pinks and purple and blues when summer arrives here. Gorgeous photos!

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  39. I do like these flowers, I have four plants one I bought in woolies and three from a friends farm, one is bright pink the others have not flowered yet but are blue on home soil not sure what they will be in my garden.
    Merle............

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  40. So lovely to see your hydrangeas! Thanks for sharing a view of your summer flowers with all of us who are looking out at snow!

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  41. Hi Shane, your hydrangeas are gorgeous. I have one in my garden. I am not sure what it's called. It starts out with greenish white, then it turns puckish green, and then totally pink. I absolutely love it, especially when it's pinkish green. Have a lovely week. Christa

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  42. I absolutely love hydrangeas and have several in my yard, but want more. I love the way the first ones turned speckley and pastel.

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  43. Dear Shane,

    I love hydrangea, they are so romantic. My grandma had 2 really big ones next to her front door, a blue and white one. The white one is called Annabelle in Germany. I ordered 2 new ones for the next garden season, Paris and Vanille-Fraise. Do you know them?
    Love your pictures of the summer.

    Have a wonderful summer, luv Babs

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  44. oh my goodness these are so gorgeous. Last fall I was at a local nursery and found a hydrangea tree so I bought it.
    They told me it was too cold to plant but found out we should have. It has been a guest indoors all winter and now is blooming so it probably won't bloom this year when planted in the yard but it is so pretty.

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  45. Your hydrangeas are really, really gorgeous! This is one of my favorite flowers, but I have never had a Bridal Bouquet hydrangea. How beautiful.
    I'm your newest follower. ;)
    Have a wonderful day!
    Toni

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  46. Hydrangeas are so beautiful. My great grandmother had them beside her front porch. As a little girl I loved to sit there and enjoy those huge blossoms.

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  47. I have none, yet wish that I did especially seeing yours!

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  48. Ohhhh such gorgeous Hydrangeas you have! And so beautiful in those pastels, what a wonderful surprise. Great photography and collages too! As you might know I love love Hydrangeas. We have several of these beautiful plants in the garden. A large white one which I think is called Annabel and a smaller blue lacecap one and a soft pink lacecap one - which I hope will survive, because we have those only a couple of months now and they're small pot plants. Looking forward to seeing more of your Hydrangeas! Wishing you a beautiful day and sending you hugs xx

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  49. Hello Shane,
    I love your's hydrangeas.
    Greetings from France.

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  50. The colours of the hydrangeas are just wonderful Shane. What a treat for the eyes!

    Karen

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