Little Lamb Hydrangea

 I have had a Little Lamb hydrangea planted for 3 years.  After the first rain when it has blooms it looks like this:

This happens every year.   In May I used Espoma plant food, hoping it would help to make more sturdy stems, but it has not helped.

 I really hate having to tie plants to keep them upright, but I went out today and did just that.

I would not recommend Proven Winners 'Little Lamb'.  Do any of you know the secret to growing Little Lamb?  I would LOVE some advice!

A Few Shots of my Limelight Hydrangea in the Main garden

I believe that I planted this Limelight seven years ago.

Here is the view a few feet further back.

I think the speedwell in front is 'Sunny Border Blue", but I cannot remember for sure.  I removed an aggressive perennial behind the speedwell and have not yet found anything to substitute. I am leaning towards a big patch of pink coneflowers.   The tall poofy purple plant is phlox.

My Shrub Borders are at Their Best Right Now

 

I took these pics less than an hour ago.  This is the front of my home  looking from the perennial gardens to the new picket fence garden.

This is at the garage entrance looking toward the same picket fence road garden.

 And this is the picket fence garden.  It is planted with a Ninebark and 2 Golden Cypress Mophead shrubs.  Since the shrubs are still small, I filled the garden in with red and pink dahlias and J's favorite flower, marigolds.

I am happy to report that all of the Limelight Hydrangeas that I planted last fall are doing great.

I put three of them in the old apple tree border.
Same area looking in the opposite direction toward the picket fence road garden.

Did you notice all of the sedums just beginning to turn pink in my driveway borders?  I have dozens of them.  This is next to the sidewalk to the front door looking toward the old apple tree border:

 

 

A few feet to the right looking in the exact spot where the apple tree stood.  We are loving living without that tree there. This is the first time in over a quarter century that we have not had to pick up apples every day in late summer.

In a week the sedum will all be a lovely medium pink  color.  In two weeks they will turn their rust color and then sadly summer is over.  It goes faster every year, don't you think?

 

I Have Been Coveting a Limelight Hydrangea

Almost every garden blog I go to lately is showcasing their Proven Winner  hydrangea 'Limelight'.  I passed up this hydrangea in June and have been regretting it ever since.

So when I went looking this weekend and found one for $35, I grabbed it. Is that expensive?  I thought it was, but I really wanted this one.

Once I got it home, I could not find a place to plant it.  I have mentioned my nearly pure rock garden soil before. Where I wanted to put this plant, I could not dig deep enough. So I found a place I could dig near the smaller arbor and put it there--in front of a shrub and between two pine trees.

I was not happy -- it was just not the right spot.

So  Sunday morning  I asked DH if he could try to dig a deep enough hole near the big arbor where I really wanted it. Being the good sport he is, he came out to dig. First he removed these asters.

which was really a shame as they were looking good this year with only about a foot of ratty foliage at the bottom.  Nonetheless, they had to go to make room for the hydrangea.  I can be heartless when on a mission! :)

After digging down about six inches,  he hit  pure rock.  I told him (3 times) to forget it (I know how miserable it is to try to dig through limestone). I would just have to leave 'Limelight" where I had planted it Saturday

He said that maybe if I filled the hole with water and let it sink in, he may be able to dig deeper.  So I did that--twice.  I don't know if it was the water or just the 15-minute break waiting for the water to go down....but somehow my amazing husband dug a hole deep enough and I was able to replant 'Limelight'. I was thrilled to no end!


I think this is the perfect spot for this hydrangea.

I did not even know it turns a burgundy color in the fall!  The one I bought is already turning to burgundy.

 

I am now really happy with the placement of this hydrangea.  Thank you DH!!

The Smokebush gets a New Home

About 6 p.m. last night, I turned on the weather channel and saw that the forecast is for rain, rain, and more rain all weekend.

Ah, the perfect time to accomplish one of my weekend goals. I grabbed a shovel and headed out to the rockwall garden.

I want to move this smokebush. I think the lovely purple leaves will look nice behind a bluish/pink hydrangea.

So I ran out amid the sprinkling sky, grabbed a shovel and moved it.

I finished the move just in time for the heavens to release a 3-hour downpour which did all the watering in that was needed. :) I hope it survives. The root system seemed quite small.

The seasonally-challenged poppy now has 4 buds!

Sunday Between the Rain Showers

Everything is so fresh and green after the last few days of rain.

I have hundreds of orange lilies blooming. Most of them are in the wooded area because I have been removing them from the main gardens where they were taking over.

I did not take them all out because I do like that pop of orange in different sections.

I have them mixed with daisies in many areas because I have also been removing a lot of the daisies from the main gardens.

Speaking of the main gardens, here are two shots standing at the biggest Tango lily. This shot is looking toward the arbor (the rockwall garden is way in the background). The big daylily next to the Tango lily will be blooming soon. It's red.

This shot is looking directly across the swath of grass toward a second walking path which leads back into the wooded area. It makes a turn to the right and ends where the bistro table is.

The path with the round pavers is the first path we put in. I could not find round pavers for the second or third paths, so I had to change to squares.

Nestled between two day lilies is one of last year's new 'Forever' hydrangeas. I planted three of them. The other two are in the rockwall garden.

Here is one from the rockwall garden. It has huge flowers and is doing very well.
The third one is not blooming.

Remember a while back I told you I moved a new poppy and I thought I had killed it because it immediately turned brown and shriveled up? Well Jen left a comment that maybe it just went dormant. I was hoping Jen was correct. And it looks like she was!

Here is some new growth in that exact spot. Yippee! Maybe it will be a purple one for next year. Neither of my purple ones bloomed this year.


I decided to join Artie over at Color Outside the Lines for his Share a Sunday Garden. If you love gardens, go visit Artie. He is sharing a beautiful one today.

Forever & Ever Hydrangeas are Blooming

You may recall that I bought three marked down hydrangeas at Walmart this summer. I am happy to report that all three are doing well.
These will only get about 2.5 feet tall at maturity and 3 feet wide. I like this one best. They call it blue, but it's really purple.
What I really want hydrangeas for is to dry them. I love the big puffy heads in winter arrangements, wreaths, or even on a Christmas tree. I hope my plants produce more flowers next year.
This poor plant is not faring nearly as well. I forget to go out there and water it. It's now toast. That's OK. In about a month I will be getting rid of them all anyway.


I've been busy all week. So far I have had no time to read, but I did cut off the long duster jacket. I like it much better 7 inches shorter. I have also completed two sides of the 'Roses are Red, Borders are Blue' binding. I am doing it by hand--no more machine binding for me. It should be on my bed by next Monday. I spent two nights working outside and tonight I baked a cake.

I have been staying up later than usual for over a week now because I am hooked on the political convention speeches. Last week I was glued to the tube until close to midnight with Hill, Bill and Barack. Last night I had to stay awake to find out about Governor Palin. Tonight I simply must see what McCain will say to keep the new found campaign flames burning. I am glad this is the last speech because I need my sleep! Five a.m. comes quickly when you stay up until midnight.

Have you all been watching these speeches? I love to watch and listen to a good speaker and they are all masters of the art.

Well, now I must go and watch Bill O'Reilly as he is airing an interview with Obama from earlier today.