photo Jane Richmond_zpsux4wawxl.png

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

In the Garden /// The Perfect Hydrangea and Other Lovely Things

{ Mophead hydrangea }

{ Annabelle hydrangea }

The Perfect Hydrangea
Having to forgo veggies in my own little back yard due to lack of sun has allowed me to focus on flowers and pretty plants for the first time in my gardening life. I have this list of all of the flowers that would live in my dream garden. My plant budget is slim and I've been really lucky to receive much of my wish list on occasions like Mothers Day and birthdays. The hardest one to acquire has been the perfect hydrangea. When we moved in Chris scored us a cast-off hydrangea from one of his landscaping clients, it looked pretty sad but I nursed it back to health and it came back strong last spring. The trouble was that once it got it's leaves and flowers I quickly realized it wasn't the variety growing in my imaginary garden in my head. This one has thin leaves, is sort of leggy, and produces tiny white flowers. After some Googling my guess is it's an Annabelle hydrangea. Costco just recently opened their garden center and have been carrying the most incredible Mophead hydrangeas and my dear sweet Mother decided to gift me one. Isn't it beautiful! (first photo in post)

 { Sweet Woodruff and pink petaled Strawberry plants }

 { one of the succulent planters }

{ something about these reminds me of the intro to Game of Thrones -- the Weirwood tree possibly? }


{ bleeding heart }

{ I'm not sure the name of this guy, I'm pretty sure he's part of the succulent family }

 { Saxifraga : Triumph }

 { I've started some Sweeties on the window ledge -- better late than never! }

 { Cape Gooseberry -- started from seed }


{ A poppy in the perennial arugula bed -- what a difference a day makes... }



The neighborhood kids and I have also been cleaning up the communal plots and little hands have been scattering seeds that are now finally growing! Once the weather warms enough the tomatoes will join them.


{ a few newbies I picked up at the Root Cellar }


What's growing in your garden right now? Are you starting seeds on your window ledges? Or maybe you have a greenhouse?

21 comments:

  1. My peas are up and I have spinach, lettuce, and some carrots attempting to grow in the garden. 24 tomatoes plants, 8 peppers, and a bunch of other random things on the laundry counter. I bit off WAY more than I could handle this spring - including another round of chicks. I'd be so lucky if everything grew, but I'm not sure what two people will do with all those tomatoes. Good thing we have a freezer :) Love your flowers. I don't have anything interesting in bloom yet - the garden hadn't been tended properly for at least a couple of years before we got here. But I've planted echinacea, bee balm, and cornflowers for the bees and some dahlias for myself.

    Have a lovely spring!

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    1. Oh it sounds like you have a lot growing! Is this your first year in your garden? What kind of tomato varieties are you growing? I have the opposite problem here, the kids pick the tomatoes so quickly there are never any left for the grown ups! Lol.

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  2. oooh, look and lush everything is for you already! lucky west coaster. ;) there are just starting to be buds on the trees, but calling for frost tomorrow....here in Toronto, I don't usually try to plant anything before May. :( I'll have to live vicariously through your beautiful garden! I love blue hydrangeas.

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    1. Aren't they lovely? I've heard the colour of the flowers are determined by the pH of the soil. I'm curious to see what colour they turn if I start dumping coffee grounds around them! Pink, purple, blue?!

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  3. your pictures are absolutely stunning, Jane! Oh i look forward to having a big vegetable garden again one year :) Of course, I'm hoping to get a move on one of these weekends to have my balcony garden up and running! xo

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    1. Thanks Becca! And maybe someday you will have a big veggie garden again (my fingers are crossed that it'll be here and not somewhere far far away!) And your balcony is looking incredible!!

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  4. Beautiful photographs and beautiful new growth!!

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    1. The new growth makes me smile. I adore spring.

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  5. Lovely to see your photos and what you're growing. We moved into our house a year ago and my husband's main project has been to build a polytunnel from scratch himself. It's finally finished! We have cucumber, melon, gourds, tomatoes and lots of tender fruit trees and flowering plants in there as well as asparagus, beans, peas and radish in our outdoor veg patch. The best thing about the polytunnel is that it's lovely and warm in there even when the weather is pants outside!

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    1. Oh my gosh I'm SUPER jealous of your polytunnel! That's incredible that you can grow such variety in there! Can you grow all year round in there? Or just start tender fruits earlier? So curious!

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  6. Hydrangeas are my favorite flower! I love to dry them!
    Iam so excited to knit up your new Palladio with the mods! Do you have an idea when that pattern will be available? Thanks, Penny

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    1. Penny I'm excited you're excited! I'm hoping to open the test group as soon as I can, it shouldn't be too long now! I'm really excited about this one and am dying to share the pattern :) My own pullover is nearly complete! I'll share FO shots when I'm done!

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  7. Your garden is alive and gorgeous! Hydrangeas, along with lilacs and peonies, are at the top my favourite things in our garden. Like my yarn stash, I like to see as much purple and pink wherever I look!

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    1. Ohhh, lilacs and peonies are on my dream garden wish list! I have a few peonies that I haven't seen flower yet (SO excited that they might bloom this year) but a lilac bush will have to wait until we have the space. One day! Until then we'll just keep stopping to sniff the blossoms of the bushes we pass on our walk home from school, lol.

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  8. All my favorites! I'm in Michigan and my Annabelle Hydrangea bushes are coming in beautifully - can't wait for them to pop open this summer. Beautiful!

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    1. Oh how wonderful! Don't you just love when dormant plants come to life in the spring! It's my favorite time of year!!

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  9. Love love love your garden pics! I also started cape gooseberries this year but they don't want to grow much so far :)

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    1. Thanks Sharon! Did you start the cape gooseberries indoors? I just transplanted mine outdoors yesterday.

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    2. I did start them indoors. Ages ago! And they are still indoors. We had an early spring and have had wonderful temperatures but the past few days have been near freezing overnight so the wee plants will be in their pots for awhile yet. I want to grow them so I can decorate desserts and pretend for my kids that they are at a trendy pop-up restaurant!

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    3. Oh rats! Well the threat of frost will definitely put a stop to transplanting :( We've had an early spring too and I've been dying to get my little starts in the ground! So far so good -- everything is looking really happy so far! I was really patient hardening them off this year. I had them in a big tupperware tote that I could put the lid on at night -- it also kept them sheltered from cool breezes during the day. It worked wonders!

      Your kids are going to love the cape gooseberries! Oh so fancy!

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