2008 - The Year of the Hydrangea in My Garden

The hydrangeas have been stunning. No doubt the record rainfall is responsible. I took this snap of Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' this a.m. It is about 125 cm tall (4 feet) and I have it wedged between a Persicaria polymorpha (225 cm & white) and a Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne' (200 cm & bright yellow). It really looks nice and limey - far more this year than in the past.

It can be a bit bare at the bottom, so it is ideal to combine with perennials and woody plants in a mixed border. It gets sun & shade in my garden - and apparently can handle full sun providing it has enough moisture.

Fingers Crossed - Cold Weather on the Way

Double digit weather that we enjoyed last week will be replaced by single digit highs and potential for snow. The bad news is that so many of my perennials really took off last week and the early ones that set buds may be injured. The good news is that I've decided to postpone any more garden cleanup - hoping that the last bits of leaves will protect the smaller tender crowns.


Looking for photo fodder this a.m. - and aside from the usual suspects - found this lovely Quince - Chaenomeles in bud. It's one of the original plants to the property and I suspect is about 50 years old. I love the coral colour of the blossoms and its shiny green leaves. It is shoved up against an enormous ash tree - which works well. I checked out my Dirr reference on Woody Landscape Plants and think he was a bit harsh saying, "as a landscape plant it is intolerable for the 50-51 weeks when it isn't blooming". I usually have a month of pretty buds, several weeks of bloom; nice shiny leaves during the growing season and great yellow quince in the fall - however, it is definitely not a "showcase" sort of bush - its form is a bit wild - so squished up against the ash and fence it will stay.