Hydrangea Limelight. It has gone through it's green phase, now it's white. Next on to pink.

Hydrangea Pink Diamond. just starting to get a few pink specks.

Hydrangea White Dome. It was a glowing white when it first opened. I love the antique looking white it settles into.

They're all wonderful, Polly! What kind is 'White Dome'? What I can see of the leaves makes me think its one of the hardier Hydrangeas?

Yes, it's an arborescens

Do you grow any macrophyllas?

The only one I've had survive, and I haven't tried many is Dooley. That one does well.

I'm currently trialling some of the Citiline ones.

Ah yes, I picked up Dooley because of its hardiness too. My Hydrangeas got mixed up in the move here, and I lost a few in the drought that year, so I'm not even sure if I still have it. When I was in my early 20s, I remember macros being kinda scarce around here. I tried a few, and usually could get them to survive, but back then they all bloomed on old wood, and winter die back kept me from ever seeing a bloom. I'd see them from time to time in protected environments back then, but nowadays I see them all over.

I lost three Mopheads, two Oakleafs and Unique in this summer's draught. It's OK by me. I was tired of watering them twice a day and building cages stuffed with leaves around them in the fall. I'd have to keep bags of leaves around all winter to restuff them as the leaves compacted or blew out of the cages. In high winds the cages would blow over and break some of the shrubs's branches or uproot them no matter how well I anchored them.

The Mopheads that I have totally ignored in my deep shade and my part shade beds are all Hydrangea macrophylla Glowing Embers. They were put in as very small, under 10" plants. My roadside bed was too dry and windy for them and they perished. But in my big back bed, they have grown nicely over the past 3 years. This year all of them have bloomed, no matter how deep the shade. These are smaller, more compact Hydrangea.

For some reason, this has turned out to be an excellent year here for Limelight, Pink Diamond, The Swan, PeeGee, and Pinky Winky. But the dryness has burned and wilted Lady in Red, PeeWee and Mariesii With the recent rain, Mariesii is recovering quite well.. I also noticed that the blooms on Annabelle were much smaller this year. Right now I'm wondering if I should cut some of the stems with burnt foliage and blooms off of Lady in Red.

Maybe just remove the burnt leaves and blooms and leave the stems, perhaps avoiding removing any of next years blooms? That's a lovely shade garden!

Thanks, Neal. I read several places that Lady in Red blooms on both new and old growth. Last summer, it took a really big growth spurt, so I trimmed it back some and it didn't seem to hurt it at all. But the scorched leaves and blooms this year are all over the plant now. I'd hate to lose the entire bloom, which usually lasts through a good bit of autumn.

I really love it when Annabelle is in her green bloom stage.

I'm so thankful for these mopheads that bloom on new wood. I didn't realize Lady in Red did that, need to keep my eyes open for those on sale!

Neal, Lady in Red is a lace cap. I'll find some photos for you.

I don't have any lacecaps, gotta fix that!

Here's my Lacecap Mariesii. The white is her fall color.

Calycanthus floridus. I wouldn't call this a beautiful shrub but the flowers and the scent of the
leaves and bark are wonderful. Lee

Omg everyone's flowers are so beautiful. And val you are full of knowledge. I want to find the Korean allspice now. Hehe

stormyla said: I know you do. I was just teasin'. I really don't like to use it. It's too high in nutrients and interferes with the Mycorrhizza growth that is so critical especially to shrubs. I'll take less foliage and blooms to insure better root development and nutritional uptake. I need healthier plants to help them survive the voles chewing at their roots.

I use flower thrive on almost all my flowers.

I've come to a place where about all I have is shrubs and bulbs. Realized I don't like to manage the traditional perennials and got sick of waiting for green lumps and bumps to make a few flowers for a short time. Also don't enjoy chasing creeping ground covers. (Ironically, those that I would LIKE to creep over entire areas have been slow to get going, but that's another issue...) so yeah, Bring on the shrubs!

These pics are from last year...

April/May/June, sometimes beyond:
Can't find a great pic of great classic blue Hydrangea, but must be mentioned. I guess these are just for people too.

June:
Gardenia!! An evergreen.

Too bad monitors aren't scratch'n'sniff!


September:
Though it dies back to the ground in winter, Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) is amazing! Most sources say Z9+ but I've had these for about 4 years. If they came back after last winter, they can come back after any winter here in 8b. One of the few plants I put in the yard just for me, doesn't seem to have any wildlife value here.

On the left, seen with knockout roses, Buddleia (butterfly bush,) Passion vine on fence, much misc.

Seen with elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta) and box compost experiment*.

Seen with sweet potato vine, compost barrel, Buddleia.

Closeup.


September:
Lantana is also long-blooming, providing nectar for most of the year, depending on severity of winter. Some years it's partially evergreen, sometimes only basal growth is there in spring. (Same with Buddleia - on both being unreliably evergreen, and length of blooming.)
Seen with tiger swallowtail butterfly.


*Box compost experiment
Filled cardboard box with greens and put it at base of elephant ears. It decomposed quickly, and I saw my first blooms ever on that plant, though I've had it for about 15 years. Not for the front yard, but it was cool to observe in a nook in the back, and so *easy.* Moving around compost is hard work, I'm always looking for ways to get around that. The barrel seen above could be in a less visible spot, but having it at the corner of this bed allows it to just be dumped, not moved. Hiding it (or just kind of dressing it up, as the case may be,) behind shrubs is a compromise I can live with, vs. the back pain and extra mosquito bites involved in moving compost, 'cuz there's no way I'm parting with any organic matter from our kitchen or yard (except the occasional pulled poison ivy sprout and thorny rose branches.)

I like your approach and like you, finding ground covers that are "just right" is difficult. That compost box experiment is a hoot and smell-o-vision would be nice. I remember taking a big sniff walking out the front door every morning when I lived in CA. Great way to start the day.