New Hampshire – Page 41 – New England's Narrow Road

Time to Photograph The Hydrangeas

hydrangea shrub — Hydrangea shrub with blooms

I was outside yesterday photographing the hydrangeas for making new products to sell in my Zazzle stationery store.

This year the flowers are very different looking. For one thing many of the blooms are smaller than last year and I don’t have any that turned really bright blue.

But I am getting some odd colors on the shrub in my yard. As the blooms age I am seeing pink and light green on some of the flowers.

I haven’t uploaded my new photos yet and will probably do that today, and I was hoping for some white flowers to photograph – maybe in a neighbor’s yard, but that didn’t happen.
I was talking with an online friend who lives in Canada and she was kind enough to send me a couple of her white hydrangea photos to use. She also mentioned how the hydrangeas didn’t do so well this year.

I have been meaning to get some of them cut to dry too. Last year I hung them upside down in the window of my bedroom and they dried out nicely, although I think they have to have plenty of water before being cut.

blue hydrangea — Last years bright blue flower

My Favorite Gardening Blogs

As this page was written many years ago, my favorite blogs from back then, apparently no longer exist. I don’t want to delete the page because people are finding it, so I’m adding some links below for those of you who live in New England and do gardening. I’m in Florida now

The photo here was taken when I rented a duplex in Antrim and managed to get a little garden going. So here’s the blog notes from back in 2009? How do I tell when a blog post was written?

We’ve had a hot summer so far in the northeast and the tomatoes and cukes in my garden are loving it! After having a tough time last year with the full month of rain in June, I was reluctant to plant. But my neighbor came by with a rototiller and made the garden twice as big (yes, that’s it in the photo) so I felt like I had to try to grow something in the space.

I’m very glad I did. I’ve eaten a few cherry tomatoes and 3 cukes so far, but the larger tomatoes are numerous and all the plants are green and happy!

Gardening Blogs to Read and Follow

This is being updated now in 2020 and they look like worthwhile places to visit. Since my daughter, who lives in NH, is planning to raise chickens next year, I included a blog about that.

Shrunken Heads

My neighbor and I have noticed how small the hydrangea blooms are this year. I am wondering if it’s just happening in our yard or all over.

I kept thinking that they would grow bigger, but it doesn’t appear to be the case. Most of the flowers on my shrub in the front yard are a pretty blue, but the ones growing out back have more shades of lavender. I need some new photos to update my “BlueHyd” store with new products and I depend on the shrubs in my yard to provide the flowers to do so!

I’d love to have a white shrub to photograph, but these colors give me lots of options. In fact, last year I had a greenish flower that I used to design with and it has been a good seller.

Recently I helped a customer design her wedding invitations and reply cards for a wedding on Cape Cod in August when, as she said, the hydrangeas will be in full bloom. I hope the flowers are larger down that way and I bet that her wedding will be lovely.

Purple Columbine Flowers

The Columbine plant is available in so many lovely colors. I have a red and yellow one and a few “blue” (which are more a dark purple) and light pink.

This Spring I saw some at the Agway that had feathery looking flowers and I almost bought one just because of the uniqueness, but didn’t.

They are easy to grow and the seeds are fun to collect – there will be loads of them! – to plant for next year.

dried seed pods — Tiny Seeds Are Inside These Pods

Find a small jar and collect the round, black seeds in late fall when they are completely dried out or just let them self sow in the garden. Be sure they don’t get pulled up as weeds next year. The leaves will be rounded.