Platy's Garden Ramble: December 2014

Spasmodically I decide to have a bakefest and produce a multiplicity of Christmas cookies and shortbreads to be given as gifts to my friends and family. Typically this occurs in about a five year cycle. I think this is because it takes me about five years to forget how much effort this endeavour entails and then, once my previous experiences have been forgotten, I become instilled with the enthusiasm to do it all again, five years down the track.

This year was a baking year. I was inspired by these cute little cookie jars I came across in a store, having little idea that those ten jars would require ten batches of cookies/shortbreads to fill them! Not to mention the effect on my waistline of sampling some from each of those ten batches. In ways so typical of my own nature, I badly underestimated the amount of time it would take to create my little calorie laden (but delightful) morsels. Next year will NOT be a baking year.

For many weeks I've observed the battalions of weeds growing in both size, strength and numbers and today was the first opportunity I have had to redress the balance of power in my garden. The recent regular rainfall has meant that my failing to provide regular watering has been compensated for by Mother Nature and although some things look a little seedy, very little has totally died, and the weeds have truly thrived.

Because the weed situation was relatively under control up to about 8 weeks ago, a couple of hours has produced almost miraculous results. But then again, if you are dealing with monster weeds spanning around 80cm, once removed a large area of weeded garden is instantly created.

But this blog is about my hydrangeas. I have traditional hydrangeas, some "dwarf" varieties that intriguingly grow up to 1.5m in height (the same as regular hydrangeas) and I have a few "Endless Summer" varieties. The "Endless Summer" varieties were quite revolutionary. They will flower on both new and old wood (the older varieties flower only on old wood so new plants or those that are heavily pruned will not produce flowers until the branches have had a chance to mature).

Even though I have religiously made tags for each variety as I planted it, the ink in the permanent markers I used appears to be much less than permanent and I cannot easily identify some of the varieties pictured below. Maybe I can work on this next year, when I may or may not have more time!

The hydrangea is an old favourite that has, like so many of the old fashioned plants and shrubs, made a come back.

This is one of my favourite pictures. I can only wonder what colour the hydrangeas were, whether they were the same pretty blue as the pretty young girl's eyes (and yes, her eyes, although not quite so young now, are still a pretty blue), with the colour of the florets muted by the late afternoon sun. Her parents had a great eye for colour and form and I think her mother would have made her dress and chosen a pale shade of blue for this. Perhaps I will later digitally colour this photo how I think it might have been. The girl, or her sisters, may have recollections that might guide me.