Well, we have gone from an extra rainy October to a dry and now hot November. It’s been like the middle of summer these last few weeks. Many of the rose blooms just wilted on the bush, and the Hydrangeas have burst into flower.
Hydrangea ‘Blue Wave’ is looking especially like big waves covered with froth and blowing white caps. One of the others is the dark blue ‘Blaumeise’, but most of my hydrangeas are grown from cuttings of unknown macrophylla varieties. Some of them even grew from mulch from the chipper which had hydrangea prunings in it.
I noticed as I arranged the flowers that the scarf I was wearing today had exactly the colours of the flowers, right down to little flicks of purple, so I draped it over the balcony rail.
The house is full of the scent of Sweet Peas, I have them all over the place, from tiny bottles for the really short stemmed ones, to mixed into this very big vase with the hydrangeas which I will take to work tomorrow.
Get on over to Rambling in the Garden where Cathy and no doubt others are starting on holiday wreaths. My holly is looking good but the berries are green.
Absent Gardener 
That’s perfectly gorgeous Cath! Seeing your beautiful blooms and Doris’s dried ones in a wreath made me aware of their long lived value. Perhaps I’ll go against all my principals about how much water they need and have some in pots on the terrace. They’d be in shade all summer so might just survive.
I think they look better in the shade, the colour stays richer. I can’t grow anything other than succulents in pots – too bad at watering. 🙂
Hydrangea prunings from mulch rooting – amazing! And I too am not brilliant at pot watering of permanent residents, which is why I don’t bother with houseplants any more 😉 Your hydrangeas look wonderful in the vase, particularly in their variedness, and look so tactile. Well done for noticing how they matched your scarf!
Thanks Cathy. I do have plants in pots outside in a shady patio at work – they are all quite tough ones though, in very big pots, and there are other people to remember to water them. 🙂 The Hydrangeas have been a real enjoyment this week, looking so cool in the hot weather.
These are gorgeous hydrangeas, Cath. I’m amazed that some rooted from chipped pieces – you must have a gift, along with the perfect conditions for growth.
Perfect conditions for growth I think it was 🙂 nice cover of mulch, warm rainy weather…
Blue makes me very happy as do these flowers.
That’s great! Have a happy week!
What a beautiful Hydrangea! Such delicate shades of blue. And so pretty with the sweet peas too. Your soil and climate must be ideal for them to root so easily. How envious I am! Have a sunny flowery week Cath! 🙂
Thank you! I hope you have a cosy week indoors!
Wow look at those dreamy blues – offset beautifully by the jewel-like purple.
Thank you 😊 we are lucky with our acid soil for getting good blues.
The blue of these hydrangea’s are stunning – and have really cheered me as it’s wet, cold and windy in Manchester today. I grow Hydrangea paniculata in my front garden and love it – I’m just about to cut the heads for next week’s IAVOM. Im trying pink ones next year in pots…and more sweetpeas too. My vase was a solitary fuchsia 🙂 love Bec xx
Oh that’s good, it’s been very hot here. I have Hydrangea paniculata too, probably it is too crowded, next to 3 other Hydrangeas.
Hydrangeas are such good plants and the scent of sweet peas seem like an age ago. Summer indeed.
It is indeed suddenly summer.
Enjoy! We are in dark winter mode here🙃