Missy in Profile + Lacecap Hydrangea

Missy went home this morning after three days and four nights. She's the best houseguest.

My lacecap hydrangeas are spectacular this year and the bush is loaded with blooms. I love them♡

Hope you enjoyed the long weekend. 

xo

Lacecap Hydrangea at My Cottage

The first blooms on my lacecap hydrangea are just appearing and the bush is lovelier than ever this year. It's in the perfect location and last year I was careful to cut back all the stems with blooms after they finished because this variety blooms on last year's growth. It looked a little haggard after I pruned it but the new growth filled in rather quickly. I love the almost perfectly round shape of this woody shrub as you will see in the next photo.

I took this photo this morning before I started mowing the way back. As you can see from the sky, it was overcast all day and cool, never above 70°. I finished mowing around 1:30 and 5 minutes later it started to sprinkle rain. I have mastered my John Deere Garden Tractor and I absolutely love it. I'm not afraid of it anymore and it does such a great job. It took an extra day this week to get it all done. The first day it was blazing hot and I ran out of gas before I finished all of the back yard. So yesterday I finished that and quit so the grass in the back meadow could dry out more. Today was such a perfect day and now I'm finished for a while. Have a great weekend. xo

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Gardening Tips for September

Several weeks ago after my Lacecap Hydrangea blooms were on their way out, I cut them all off and tidied up the overgrowth and now I am pleased to say there is a lot of new growth. If you wait until spring to do this you will have no flowers because this confusing plant blooms on last year's growth. I much prefer plantings that bloom on THIS year's growth as the Limelight Hydrangeas do. But you do what you have to do. 

I found this handy list of things to do in the garden in September. Happy Labor Day. xo

My Lacecap Hydrangea

Pale blue flowers on this bunch.

All white flowers on this bunch.

Pink flowers on this bunch.

All on the same woody shrub that blooms on last year's growth. It is really thriving after all the rain we've had recently.

Lacecap Hydrangea and a Poppy Pod

I took this photo late in the evening last night before putting the house to bed. My lacecap hydrangea is covered in beautiful blossoms after a dubious beginning. As you can see from the burned leaf edges, it suffered twice from killing frosts in March. This woody shrub blooms on last years growth so I didn't cut anything back and I am glad I didn't. I shall cut it back quite severely after the blooms die off this year and give it plenty of time to put out new growth for next year's flowers.

I will harvest this seed pod soon to encourage more blooms on my poppies. I already have quite a few for planting in the fall or early spring. These flowers are giving me great pleasure every time I look out any of my rear windows. They are responding to my nurturing too.