Hydrangeas

Bees in a Blizzard

| Flower Roberts

I spent a lot of time hanging out around the hydrangea yesterday.

My huge Oakleaf Hydrangea is cover in gloriously aromatic blooms.

It is abuzz with bees and many other types of flyers.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent as I listened to the hum.

The Oakleaf Hydrangea has blooms about a foot long which blush pink as they age.

Oakleaf Hydrangea/H. quercifolia

The bract-like, sterile flowers serve as umbrellas to protect the pollen and shade the pollinators.

They are like tiny parasols for the blizzard like blooms underneath.

I watched as the bees flew into the blizzard and emerged loaded with pollen.

It looked like a foam party made of meringue. It smelled like one, too.

The Oakleaf hydrangea is a busy place these days.

That’s where you will find me and the bees.

FLOW

Changing Hydrangeas

| Flower Roberts

June is also the month the Hydrangeas bloom in North Carolina.

I have three types which have different bloom configurations.

Big-leaf/panicle Hydrangeas have pom-pom blooms.

My ‘Glory Blue’ has never been true blue no matter what I do.

My lacecap with variegated leaves is true blue,

unless it is purple…

or even pink!

Do not bother lecturing me on soil pH or hybridization.

The rules get broken here. I am puzzled by my hydrangeas.

Except for the Oakleaf Hydrangea, which I can always count on to be white…

until it turns pink.

Hi Ho Hydrangeas!

FLOW

Too Much White is a Parasite

| Flower Roberts

I love plants with variegated leaves.

That means that the leaves have patches that are not green.

The non-green parts can be white, yellow or other colors.

The point is that the non-green parts lack chlorophyll.

That means that an all white leaf makes no food of its own.

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Variegated Hydrangea leaves

Therefore, all white leaves are parasites on the rest of the plant’s resources.

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Variegated Hoya leaves

When this occurs, the pure white parts should be removed.

FLOWHITE