I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Sunday, July 29, 2018

The Hydrangea Inspector.



Hello, everyone. A quiet Sunday afternoon, after the beach. Mo and I will head out for his hot day/ brief /dinner walk soon. Now at the height of summer I am doing most of Mo's three daily walks solo. The hot weather necessitates a daily pavement check--I run out at 10 AM and 5 PM and put my hand flat on the black asphalt pavement: is it too hot for me to touch? If I can't hold my hand there then Mo cannot walk on it. I carry him to a patch of cool grass for potty needs; postponing our longest walk til evening.
Other days though we meander far afield, enjoying the summer days. Mo likes to inspect each hydrangea, no doubt in search of hidden messages from fellow doggy friends.


It's a good year for hydrangeas, though a very PINK year, too bad.























Pink! Too pink.






These two are my favorites this year.








 A few other pretties to admire. Aren't the black eyed susans fabulous?






And this is Mo cooling off on our way home.  I shudder to think what he is rolling in. The sequence reminds me of a flip book.








Mo  says , Being the Inspector is so tiring. ZZzzzzz.


So far today I have made Garlic stuffed Roasted Pork Loin [on sale!]; a huge pot of marinara sauce for the freezer, and marinated soft goat cheese. The house smells really good,lol.
 Do you ever cook ahead on a Sunday?

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

below, my handblown rain catcher string. Target, last January. I love it, so delicate like blown bubbles.







9 comments:

  1. I don't think I've ever seen pink hydrangeas. They are always white or some shade of lavender. I'm not such a fan of the pink ones.

    It's good you're careful about Mo's feet in this hot weather. I'm sure he's grateful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Color deopends on the soil, and what is added by the gardener. Bluues of all shades are usually the most desirable, but I love palest pink, cream, and lavender too. Not fond of the garish pinks that were once blue and have turned pink due to alkaline soil or wrong fertilizer.

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  2. I'm doing good to cook AT ALL lately, lol. I'm not organized enough to cook ahead usually, and the few times I tried things would come up and spoil my plans for the week.

    The past week hasn't been too bad here - the week before was TOO hot, pavement hot enough to burn. Future son-in-law has been careful to check before walking his puppy!

    Is your rain-chain hanging indoors? It looks too fragile to put outside! It's pretty though.

    Hope you have a good week!

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  3. Loving the Hydrangeas! We can't grow them here, I tried once and one very cold winter did it in. :( Love the rain chain! :) Kit

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  4. My favorite hydrangea pictured is the lavender one for sure...I have one that has just set out lime green buds--ready to burst into bloom with the next rain...they turn white and then sort of a beige color...I try to dry them for my Winter bouquets
    It has been not too hot today, but still way too humid...
    Mo looks like he just tired himself out with all that hydrangea snuffling ;))
    Very pretty rain chain...stay cool hugs, Julierose

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  5. Is it true that once hydrangeas turn pink they stay pink and never bloom with the beautiful blue flowers? And yes I always cook on Sundays, my husband and I both work and have pretty busy schedules so we prep our meals for the whole week on Sunday.

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  6. Hi! No hydrangeas will return to the beautiful blue if their soil is treated with [I forget what, I want to say epsom salts! Ask at the flower nursery.]. The flowers will pretty quickly turn blue. However each year you must treat the soil again, or they go pink.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I looked it up, note that some garden soils are too alkaline to ever produce blue, as you said.

      "To encourage blue hydrangea flowers, grow the plant in soil that has a pH of 5.2-5.5. If your soil is more alkaline, you can lower the pH by applying Soil Acidifier at the rate specified on the package. Soil pH can also be lowered (more gradually) by applying an acidic organic mulch, such as pine needles or pine bark.

      If the pH of your soil is naturally quite high (alkaline) it will be very difficult to get blue flowers — even if there's plenty of aluminum in the soil. Alkaline soil tends to "lock up" the aluminum, making it unavailable to the plant. (However, you can grow fabulous pink hydrangeas!)''

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  7. Mo goes very well with hydrangeas. So cute. I do favor blues, but the lighter pink are also nice. EVEN the bright pink you showed was fun to see. Don't come across many of them out here.

    You're such a good Mom to consider the temp. of the pavement. I think a lot of dog owners are still oblivious to that.

    I want a rain chain! Not that we get any rain...

    Kel

    ReplyDelete

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