Hydrangeas in Bloom

Posted 35 Comments by dogear6

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With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?
― Oscar Wilde

And I learned what is obvious to a child.
That life is simply a collection
of little lives, each lived one day at a time.
 That each day should be spent finding beauty in flowers
and poetry and talking to animals.
That a day spent with dreaming and sunsets
and refreshing breezes cannot be bettered.
But most of all, I learned that life is
about sitting on benches next to ancient creeks
with my hand on her knee and sometimes,
on good days, for falling in love.
― Nicholas Sparks

For more about hydrangeas, check out these websites:

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/shrub/hydrangea/

http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/

Photos were taken at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and along the James River Canal by Brown’s Island in Richmond, Virginia.

Brown's Island Flowers Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens Richmond Virginia

dogear6 View All →

I am a backyard adventurer, philosopher and observer, recording my life in journals and photographs. Visit my blog at www.livingtheseasons.com.

35 Comments Leave a comment ›

    • Good question (and thank you for the compliment). They were all here in town, but in two different places. Some were at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and others were along the canal between Brown’s Island and the James River. Anything with the wrought iron fence was along the canal (they lock it up at night to keep the homeless from sleeping there and also lock it during the storms especially if the trees come down, like it did during the hurricane last year).

    • Thanks Derek! I totally agree with your comment – it’s like my joke about all the colors inside a cat’s mouth and how could you not think God doesn’t have a sense of humor. How can you not look at all the flowers and not think there’s a God? There’s way too many variations for it to be chance.

    • You are too sweet! I have it on my list to call and am just not getting around to it – I am so sorry. Are you free Friday morning (tomorrow)? That would a good time. Send me a note at work and I’ll give you a call. Let me know a time.

  7. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had never seen a purple hydrangea. I’m not sure how that happened. My Grammy had lovely pinkish hydrangeas on a big tree-like bush on the front lawn — she loved to dry them and arrange them, and give them as gifts. Your photos are excellent, especially the first. 8-)

    • The hydrangea colors are determined by the soil acidity. It’s possible that the soil conditions were simply not right when you were in that end of town. Dried hydrangea arrangements sound interesting, although wouldn’t the colors be faded? And thanks as always for the compliments.

      • Dried Hydrangeas do end up dull, but with the right accompanying leaves and maybe cattails, some dried grasses — they have enough color to look like a sepia color picture. Beautiful.

    • That sounds like a lovely bouquet! Very summery. I did visit your blog after you posted this but did not have time to leave any tracks. I will make it back to let you know I was there. Thanks for visiting and subscribing!

  9. Just outstanding flower shots. Just like Impressionists’ paintings.
    Great lessons:
    “… life is simply a collection of little lives, each lived one day at a time”
    “…life is about sitting on benches next to ancient creeks….”
    Things good to ponder – especially on hot summer days amid flowers.

    • Thank you!

      I’m glad you liked the quotes. I felt the same way – while encouraging, there were some really deep nuggets in there and those were the lines that appealed to me also. The ancient creeks sing the same songs they always did and the answers still work to our problems. And life really is little moments of time. My 32-year-old daughter is suddenly realizing that that days drag but the years fly and is rather mystified by it. Not too happy either.

    • You’re welcome! We have triple digit weather here too, along with high humidity. It’s probably that combination that makes them bloom. If you have dry heat (like the southwest), they wouldn’t be too happy.

      • Yes, high humidity is not a constant here, but I am taking care of a hydrangea keeping it in a shadowy humid place…it’s an experiment, hope it works and I’ll have a new blossom by next february :) patience is a must!!

    • Thank you! I did work at them. That first one was fascinating and I took a ton – I couldn’t get over all the colors and shapes! I only posted the one (for now) but will post more later.

    • The fact you can smell them all the way from here is quite an accomplishment on my part!

      I know what you mean about that first one. I was so captivated I probably took over a hundred pictures of those types of blooms. I only developed several and then choose that one for here, but I was totally fascinated with all the colors and shapes.

  15. Beautiful pictures! My mum would love it if I could take such nice pictures of flowers!

    I wanted to say thank you for dropping by my blog and liking all my posts! I hope you come back- I can’t wait to take some time and read the rest of your posts!

    • You’re welcome about the visit. I love the weekly challenges and using it to meet other bloggers.

      I’m glad you liked the pictures. I’ve loved photography for years, but it’s only been recently that I’ve gotten so much better at it. I do use Adobe Lightroom to improve them. I shoot in raw, which I explain about here:

      https://livingtheseasons.com/2013/01/04/2012-accomplishments/

      and here is where I talk about how I learned to use Lightroom:

      http://dogear6.com/2013/02/18/using-lynda-com/

      So keep practicing! Mum’s are the best encouragers and it’s great to have an appreciative audience. Thanks for stopping by (sorry I didn’t answer you back sooner).

      Nancy

    • They’re such a delicate flower, but the blooms are just huge! I’m glad you have one you can enjoy twice a day every day – beauty really is everywhere isn’t it?

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