Hydrangeas

The McCluggages Have Far Better Luck With Their Hydrangeas Than I Do

I have a broad-leafed hydrangea bush in my yard. I had two last year, but the second succumbed to a dry summer with watering restrictions. The first one still survives, but gets smaller every year.

My hydrangeas are really thirsty. In hot weather they start looking sad before even 24 hours is up. I don't know if that's their nature or if I did a poor job of planting them, but I've pretty much given up on them.

I grew to love big blue hydrangea flowers at my grandmother's house. She had a huge plant and I marveled at it, and at how many bees it seemed to attract.

Hydrangeas aren't all blue, of course. Sometimes they're pink:

And sometimes, I learned yesterday, they're purple:

The colors have to do with the ph of the soil.

And there are, of course, oakleaf hydrangeas, which are native:

I have some along the fence at the rear of my lot. They're doing fine with little help from me-- but look at these in the yard of Annette and Bill Cotter, just two houses up from me!

There were bees gathering nectar from the flowers, but they move too fast to be good photography subjects. I did manage to get the following shot:

Ants are far more cooperative.