Happy Thursday sweet friends. I hope you have had a good week. Our weather continues to be a topic of conversation, mostly rain and a little sun. Prayers for everyone to our south and east who are being impacted by Tropical Storm Elsa.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5
I think by now everyone knows I have never met a hydrangea that I don’t love. I make a trip almost weekly to visit my friend and her hydrangea farm. By this time in July, many hydrangeas are beginning to fade and ready to be harvested for drying. But hydrangea paniculata, which I grow in my garden, are just beginning to bloom.
Be sure to read to the end of this post to enter a lovely giveaway!
“Little lambs” were planted last year and are almost in full bloom. It is unique because its flower petals are the smallest and most delicate of any hydrangea. They are perfect for cutting. Vanilla strawberry hydrangeas are in the background with their pistachio color of immature blooms. They will be turning creamy white within the next couple of weeks.
We have a total of five vanilla strawberry hydrangeas in the garden! This is a photo from a previous year.
Limelights are planted in the back of the garden with sunflowers peeking from behind the fence!
In this photo the vanilla strawberry hydrangeas are beginning to turn pink. With our hot climate they never turn a strawberry color. Hydrangea paniculata are the most sun tolerant of all hydrangeas and bloom on new growth!
For more hydrangea inspiration check out “Gardening With Limelight & Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas”
Invincibelle Spirit is the first ever pink Annabelle hydrangea producing loads of snowball shaped blooms.
Stunning Annabelle blooms!
Macrophylla also known as French or mop heads are the most popular of all hydrangeas. They can be blue, pink, red, light or dark purple depending upon the soil pH.
Since hydrangeas are my favorite flower, I am giving away this beautiful book that was published in 2020, “Hydrangeas” beautiful varieties for home and garden. It was written by Naomi Slade and photography is by Georgianna Lane. If you love hydrangeas or flowers, this is a must add book to your collection.
Naomi Slade is a biologist by training, naturalist by inclination, and has a lifelong love of plants. Georgianna Lane is a leading floral, garden, and travel photographer whose work has been widely published internationally. I have several of Ms. Lane’s books. The wealth of information about the history, growing and care, and the varieties of hydrangeas is invaluable. Each photograph is frame worthy which adds such beauty to the book.
Stunning colors and varieties!
Vanille Fraise (vanilla strawberry) is described as one of the most frothily joyful of modern hydrangeas. The slightly lax habit of the plant makes it ideal for a cottage garden or informal setting. It was voted top plant of 2010 by the American Nursery and Landscape Association!
Shamelessly fueling the current passion for hydrangeas, Limelight is a creature of form and intriguing hue. The flowers develop in different stages of color and maturity.
Hydrangeas are the most used blooms in my arrangements!
To enter the giveaway and for a chance to win,
leave a comment telling me your favorite variety of hydrangeas. How easy is that!!
The contest is open to those living in the continental U.S. through midnight July 13th.
Thank you for your visits and wishing you a joy-filled day!
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Imparting Grace,Life and Linda
That’s like asking who your favorite child is! I guess it would be the vanilla strawberry! Love them all!,
Good morning Pam! I have this beautiful book as well as Peonies and have long been a fan of Georgianna Lane and her beautiful photography. Some lucky winner is in for a treat! I love your compilation of your beautiful hydrangeas and arrangements. Happy Thursday ♥
I too love hydrangeas. Mine are blue but I intend to plant the limelight if I lived in Alabama I would be at the hydrangea farm all the time
Where is a hydrangea farm in Alabama. Tks
It is in NE AL. I am sorry to say it isn’t open for tours.
Absolutely my favorite flower! This was such s beautiful post! Have become a such a gan of the strawberry vanilla variety lately. Thank you for a delightful feast for the eyes.
Good morning dear Pam…
I just love your photography and your beautiful gardens! Your centerpieces using hydrangeas are always a must see!
As for me… I love all hydrangeas. I have limelights getting ready to bloom along with vanilla strawberries.
Have a beautiful Thursday! Mine started off absolutely delightful because of you… ❤️
I have a small garden courtyard where I have planted plants that have white flowers. The Limelight hydrangeas look wonderful. The Little Lamb is new to me so I will have to see if I can add this too!
Good Morning Pam,
I don’t comment often, but I
always am so eager to open and read your and Butch’s posts! I too have never met a hydrangea i did not like! I have bouquets all over my home now!
Always start my day with your post. Choosing my favorite Hydrangea is like choosing my favorite ice cream flavor. Sometimes Chocolate. Sometimes Strawberry. I have multiple varieties of hydrangeas in my yard. I recently added a variegated leaf Hydrangea. Love them all. Have a blessed day. ❤️🙏Vicki
I always love all the things I learn from your posts especially about hydrangeas. Blue mop heads were always my favorite, but learning about all the others from you could change my mind. My dream is to grow some in my yard. As always, thank you for your beautiful posts.
I love the French Mop Heads, but I really love all of them. Sadly, they don’t do well here in southern Florida, so I buy cut ones from the grocery store. Thanks for the chance to win the book!
Love all hydrangeas since I love to decorate with blue I guess I will say the blue mop heads. Enjoy your posts!
Good morning Pam! Hydrangeas have always been my favorite flower but I only knew of the large mop heads until I started following both you and Mary. You’ve introduced me to so many new varieties! Last year I bought a limelight for my Aunt’s 98th birthday after reading that it was easier to grow. I was so pleased to see it blooming this year when we went for her 99th! My gardening interest has grown since following your Monday Morning Bloom posts. I now have 3 Endless Summer Hydrangeas given to me last year that I am nurturing. Central Florida is not the most friendly area for Hydrangeas. Thank you so much for the opportunity to win this lovely book and learn more about my favorite flower!
Pam, I sure did love seeing all these hydrangeas and learning more about them. None of mine have bloomed and I have nine hydrangeas. I am not sure they are going to bloom. The plants are absolutely beautiful and this time last year were blooming. Your photos are magnificent. I think the blue mop heads are my favorite but love all of them.
Hello Pam! I love all hydrangeas. My favorite is limelight but my yard is shady and I am afraid they will not do well here. I do have oak leaf hydrangeas and they are doing well. I also have endless summer hydrangeas but I need help to change the color to blue. Maybe that book would help me.
Have a great summer.
Joan
Pam, I loved seeing and reading about all of your beautiful hydrangeas. You have such a lovely assortment that adds such a pretty touch to your already gorgeous gardens. We have been in our home for 2 years now. Over the two years, I have been planting lots of hydrangeas. Right now, my favorite are the Endless Summer variety. However, there are so many wonderful types of hydrangeas I could change my mind tomorrow. Thanks for taking us on a tour of your garden. It was the perfect start to my day! Happy Thursday, dear friend!
Just found your blog today! I like what I have seen so far. I am a traditionalist. I love the blue mop heads.
That book cover is stunning. Why do I not know about the French mop heads? Hydrangeas of many kinds are popular in my area. They are just beginning to bloom here. I love all kinds & watching them change color is a gardener’s delight.
Beautiful pictures AND words! Is there a family of blooms any prettier?? Love them ALL!
Love you both ❤️
I like all varieties but in my former home I had a Hydrangea tree and it was over 6 ft tall and wide! From September through October it was changing from white to the color of pink. I would have passerby’s request cuttings! I even made wreaths and sold them at our tag sales! In our new townhouse I planted a shrub but nothing like my hydrangea tree!
Pam, Your hydrangeas are gorgeous! You have such a lovely collection. I love the vanilla strawberry ones. We’ve been trying to grow multiple mopheads but the deer manage to eat the smaller ones even with deer fencing but we’re still trying! Lol The little lambs are so cute! We may check those out at our garden center. Enjoy your day! Clara ❤️
Pam, thank you for your gorgeous posts and the chance to win the hydrangea book! Your posts make my day every time! I adore hydrangeas. ‘Summer Crush’ Bigleaf Endless Summer is a new variety that I planted last year in a container. The reblooming huge blooms that flower from summer to fall, raspberry color and smaller size of the plant give me so many options with using it in the garden and as a cut flower. It is an awesome addition to my garden.
Good Morning Pam, I absolutely love your posts! You trulu fill my senses and feed my soul! Thank you
It’s too hard to pick a favorite. They’re all so beautiful! I love the sunflowers, too.
They are stunning. Might be the only way I can get strawberries in my life as I am allergic to the fruit :).
I do love the blue colorway so much though.
Good morning Pam, no question which one I love–Endless Summer Bloomstruck! They were doing fantastic until we got hit with 120 degree days!!! I do see some fresh starts, so I don’t think they were lost. No favorite color, mine bloom pink and blue.
I really love the Vanilla Strawberry though I’ve never tried to grow one here. I’m in coastal NC and really don’t have much shade anymore in my yard since Hurricane Florence in 2018. 🌞
Pam, Mycrophylla, in that beautiful French blue is my favorite hydrangea! We have one which originated from my husband’s grandmother’s bush. It’s original location was the beautiful mountains of NC. It has been with us at three homes we have been blessed to build in our 47 years of marriage. It is a treasure to us and resides under our living room window in Coastal NC. Your post is lovely and brought back so many memories of noticing hydrangeas planted at the homes of many of my relatives when I was just a young girl, my favorite most definitely!
i love french mopheads in blue!
My favorite is Snowball. I originally had Snowball hydrangeas in my backyard (Michigan) and redid the landscape with Limelight and Firelight varieties. When I dug the Snowball ones out, I shared them with my friends where there are now living happily; but I dearly miss them!
Good morning, Pam. Your hydrangeas are beautiful and I love them too. If I were to choose a favorite it would be the Nikko Blue’s. Depending on the soil they can be a variety of colors – but oh when they are blue they are magnificent. But really I love them all.
Thank you for a chance to win the book. Happy summer days, my friend.
I love the term “frothily joyful”! Nikko Blue is still my favorite. Mine got a good drenching overnight as Elsa passed through. Thankfully we just got a good soaking and no damage,
Picking a a favorite hydrangea is like trying to pick a favorite child! Can’t do it. Love them all. The Oak leaf are particularly nice to me and bloom really well in my daughter’s yard in north Alabama near you. She would love that book! I would give it to her if I won it. Thanks for sharing your lovely garden.
Oh Pam I love hydrangeas! Not sure if I could plant here where I live. I think it might be too hot here in Texas. As far as my favorite! lol! I love them all! Pink, Blue, White & Purple! Ha-ha! I definitely like dry hydrangeas too. We’ve had a wet season here in our area too. You have a wonderful week! As always enjoyed your post! 🙂
I like the blue Hydrangeas the best.
Marion
They are all beautiful but I would pick the blue ones.
Marilyn
Since I have had the blue ,they are my favorite.
Joan
I would love any that would grow in my central NC area! My yard is full sun.
I think they are all beautiful. The photography in ten the book looks absolutely beautiful.
I love hydrangeas too and the French Blue are my favorite but I do have some Lacecaps and Limelights. I have found that the Limelights seem to dry a little more easily. I do have some of my blue hydranges that have turned green and I think those may do very well in a dried arrangements. I’m going to give them a try. Loved your post.
Carolyn/A Southerner’s Notebook
Hello Pam, You know how much I love flowers and especially hydrangeas, so picking just one is very difficult. If I have to pick just one, I would pick the strawberry vanilla hydrangeas. I have 26 of those planted at the back of my fence. Thanks for your post, they are always beautiful and so interesting and filled with ideas.
Sandy Self
Rises loves hydrangeas! Someone gave her a vase of deep purple ones last week! Love your blog, Pam!
Thanks to you, dear one, the Vanilla Strawberry went to the top of the list until the other day when you showed Snowflake,
so delicate and radiant. Our Oak Leafs are growing out of bounds and are such a consistent highlight to the garden….
You and Butch are garden inspirers supreme.
Your gardens are so beautiful. I wish we had some of that rain. It is pretty dry here and a heat wave. Hydrangeas are so gorgeous. I am not familiar with a lot of names, however I am loving your limelight. Happy summer.
Limelights are hands down my favorite! We have them in the backyard along with some white and blue Annabelle varieties. Thanks for the opportunity and his awesome post. Have a great day. XO- MaryJo
Hi Pam, I too love hydrangeas as my favorite flower. The blues of macrophylla, and whites of Annabelles make my heart flutter. I planted Limelights this spring to grow into a privacy hedge and the new white Invincible for a foundation hedge. These new Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea may have to be my next planting. I can’t get enough!
Blessings!
My favorite is the blue mop heads! Thanks for the great give-away!
Great big, white, fluffy Annabelles.
Yes, please!
;-}
I love the vanilla strawberry. Great post and giveaway. Thanks.
Stunning photos and gorgeous book! I didn’t realize there are so many varieties of hydrangeas! My favorite are the Endless Summer blue hydrangeas, I love that they are in bloom for so long!
Jenna
This is a stunning post! Hydrangeas are so gorgeous and have such a feminine old fashioned look. I have loved the Annabelle since my childhood as my Dutch Grandpa grew Annabelle’s for my Sweet Grandma. When my husband and I bought our first home he planted several Annabelle Hydrangeas for me in memory of my dearest Grandparents. I love each phase of the Annabelle blossoms from her beginning of light green to pristine white to green through the summer ~ to creamy bronze in the autumn are just so pretty. Annabelle puts on a wonderful show of color from summer through autumn. I just can’t help but take pictures of her blossoms every year! We allow the large Annabelle blossoms to dry on the hydrangea plants in autumn. Then we pick the dried blossoms and make large bouquets and secure the bouquets into dirt filled barrels to enjoy through our snowy winter months. Growing up with Annabelle one of our twin daughters chose the Annabelle hydrangea to carry in her wedding bouquet! Your hydrangea arrangements are just so beautiful Pam!! I enjoy reading each of your posts and viewing your wonderful photos. Each post is so thoughtfully done Pam. Have a lovely week…