Hydrangeas - Blue, Pink, White and Lace

The hydrangeas are in full bloom in my yard right now. These clusters are rich blues with a hint of purple are really a welcome treat this month.

I have a few different types of hydrangeas in my garden. These blue beauties (above) are called Hydrangea 'Endless Summer.' These are the mop-head style hydrangeas and will alter their color based on the pH of the soil - pink blooms in alkaline and blue blooms in acidic. They stay true to their name "Endless Summer" because they bloom from late spring well into the fall. Gorgeous!

Here is a mop-head in full bloom (above left) and a little newborn mop-head just starting to open its many flowers on the one head. 

I also have a lacecap hydrangea. On these flower heads, small fuzzy blue flowers occupy the center and they are surrounded by a various number of 4 petaled flat flowers. The overall look is more delicate - like lace or a doily. 

Another new hydrangea I added last year is Hydrangea 'Annabelle'. These have gorgeous white blooms and big green foliage. Unlike the blue hydrangea, their color cannot be altered by changing the soil pH. We have them planted in a nice shady spot to the far end of the property. It's a lovely background to the seating area.

I inherited these hot pink hydrangeas from the previous owners of the house. The color is simply show-stopping and the flower heads can really get large. Beautiful in the landscape but also a great cut flower. 

What's Blooming This Month? July 2014

It's Garden Blogger Bloom Day! On the 15th of each month, we garden bloggers like to show off what's blooming and growing in our gardens. Here on Long Island, zone 7, things are blooming all over and some still recovering from my sour mulch disaster. Read more about that here. 

Below are a few favorites from my garden this month:

Hemerocallis Purple d'Oro

This lovely purple daylily has a bright yellow center and crinkled edges on the petals. 

Thankfully these chartreuse colored coral bells are recovering from the mulch disaster. The wispy pink blooms held above the bright foliage brightens up this shady spot under the viburnum.

Courtesy of my four budding artists, I acquired some yard art for my garden and nestled them among the variegated Liriope. 

And these Annabelle hydrangeas are blooming so profusely this year! They look like big snowballs. 

Even though the flowers have faded from the viburnum shrubs, the red berries have started to take form and look like subtle flowers themselves. 

The Endless Summer hydrangeas were not too badly affected by this winter's bitter cold and are now pushing out beautiful blue blooms, some tinged with purple. 

My sea of Black-eyed Susans are on the cusp of blooming. 

I love their form contrast to the tall, wispy Russian Sage and color contrast to the bright pink Echinacea.

New this year: Echinacea 'Cherry Brandy'

More cheery Rudbeckias! 

So there you go! My garden in July. What's blooming in your garden? Do you have any of the same plants? I'd love to hear from you!

Many thanks to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this month's GBBD! 

What's Blooming: June 2014

Things here have been, well, hectic, to say the least. I took these photos of the garden in mid June and today I see it is July 1! Nevertheless, I want to put these up anyway, because June is my favorite month in the garden. All the pinks, blues, purples and yellows making their way into view. The air smells delicious, the birds are chirping continuously throughout the day and the trees are still a lovely shade of bright green.

Here's what my garden in June looks like this year:

The pink astilbe look fabulous against the wall and their sweet, subtle fragrance is a treat if you catch a whiff of it. Along the edges, I'm so happy to see the "Pretty Polly" Heuchera (coral bells) starting to fill in and produce their delicate wispy blooms.

Many varieties of hydrangea won't bloom this summer because of the brutal winter we had, which killed off all the over-wintering buds. But these Endless Summer varieties are just beginning to bloom and I'm so happy to see the lush foliage and blue flower heads.

This mountain laurel was salvaged during the backyard renovation project a few years ago and I'm so happy I kept it. It's in the perfect spot now and it's soft pink blooms are such a welcome sight in June.

This spot along the back fence gets a good deal of morning shade but enjoys some afternoon sun. Because of this, the blue hostas, viburnum and variegated red twig dogwood all get along swimmingly here.

 And of course, the carpet rose. Carefree, abundant and repeat bloomer. I just love this plant.

In the front yard, the pink lychnis (rose campion) is in full swing and mimics the color of the Salvia involucrata 'Mulberry Jam', to the right.

Along the sidewalk, the purple salvias are still putting on quite a show, the yellow daylilies (Hemerocallis 'Happy Returns') are starting to bloom and in the back, the blue tradescantia and white daisies are making their presences known.

Ah. And my much beloved shade garden that I created last summer. Look how everything is really filling in and growing so lush and healthy. I just love watching this garden unfold and morph into itself.

And so that's what my garden in June looks like! Let's hope next month is just as lovely!