Monday, September 19, 2011

Bathing Hydrangea


When I noticed that our bouquet of hydrangeas were looking a little thirsty, I thought I'd give them a nice relaxing bath. I did this last year with another bouquet (also a mop head variety) and it gave them a nice refreshing pick me up. 

They look relaxed, don't they? 

My passion for hydrangeas has led us to plant more than ten varieties so far. The bathing hydrangea above are the Endless Summer variety. 

The other mop heads I've planted are: 

Nikko Blue
All Summer Beauty
Incrediball
Penny Mac

In conical varieties, we've planted: 

Little Lamb
Mini Limelight
Limelight
Trepadora (climbing, although not climbing yet!)
Pee Gee
Pinky Winky 
Oakleaf
Bombshell 


Oops...  Who's this? 

xoxoxoxoxo

78 comments :

  1. Such a wonderful post! I will be sure to look up those types of hydrangeas and plant some next year.

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  2. Those are such GORGEOUS photos! And I LOVE that you took them with Margaret in the baby carrier. I pretty much take all my shots these days with Lola in her Baby Bjorn. It is quite an adventure, isn't it?

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  3. When our daughter was married we had 100's of hydrangeas....they were gorgeous. The venue gave us the flowers, but not the vases they rested in. Needless to say our flowers looked a bit droopy two days out of water ( we needed a day to rest up). I figured I had NOTHNG to lose, so I also submerged the water starved flowers in a huge bath. They sprung to life like magic...and we got to enjoy them all again!!!

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  4. I found you today and spent time reading about you, viewing the before and afters of the Little Farm House and in awe of your precious babes.

    I have enjoyed your art, frames, hydrangeas, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, Christmas in July, (I can't wait to see you in Country Living) and much more.

    I am fairly new to the blog world, (May) and you have moved to one of my favorite visits. You "had me" at the Sun Pickles but "put me over the moon" when I met Graham and Margaret.

    Incredible warmth and grace . . .

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  5. Hello Trina

    I adore Hydrangeas - I really do - my grandparents had so many varieties planted and loved the array of colours

    have a wonderful day

    x

    loulou

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  6. Bathing beauty indeed!!! Oh...and the flowers are quite pretty, too!

    Linda @ Lime in the coconut

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  7. Wow...nice shots...your daughter is darling next to the sweet flowers in the tub...good eye for beauty....thanks for commenting over on Mel's Designs from the Cabin....Mel

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  8. I've never thought about this trick! Wonderful idea .
    Regards

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  9. That first photo is a masterpiece!! Genius! I swear you could sell a million prints of that.

    So funny with Margaret. I think that will be a big part of your future. Even my cats love to get in the picture.

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  10. Oh how i love hydrangeas! They look stunning in your gorgeous bath...Peek a boo from Margaret - just precious! I have been loving your blog ever since i stumbled across it recently!!

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  11. I adore the way you love and care for all creatures with the sort of love that would make the earth feel massaged, bathed, and well cared for.
    pve

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  12. Trina, Mike, and children: Love the pictures; so peaceful. Thank you for listing the varieties of hydrangeas; we have a few and I am looking to add more. Cindy

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  13. Beautiful ! I also love hydrangea's - tell me, have you ever 'dried ' them, so you can enjoy a vase inside during the winter ? Do you know how people do this.
    I love your blog, by the way. Your photos of your home and garden are just beautiful.......

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  14. dearest trina,

    i think this series of photos is my fave so far and that's saying a lot b/c i've loved all your photos. they DO look relaxed! why is it that when i cut my hydrangeas they just dry?, i've started not even putting them in water at all.
    margaret is so pretty!

    xo
    janet

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  15. Ilove hydrangeas too. I'm hoping to plant many bushes next spring when we go to North Carolina.
    Chris

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  16. omgosh... fabulous photos Trina- so beautiful, but of course the last one is my favorite:)

    xojoan

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  17. Hi Trina-

    Nothing makes me smile more than seeing hydrangeas and happy little babies. Seeing both at the same time
    = PERFECTION!

    My best- Diane

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  18. I think Margaret like hydrangeas too!

    http://www.theblueridgegal.com/2011/09/yesterday-and-today.html

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  19. What a great tip. Also a beautiful surprise when you enter the bathroom. Bathing beauties for sure!

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  20. The hydrangeas are beautiful but Margaret , be still my heart.
    xoxo Dianne

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  21. what a good idea! too bad you need your bath tub or those would be great decorations haha

    FRASSY

    www.befrassy.com

    xx

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  22. First of all, I love your tub!! I never would have thought to do that for flowers. What a great idea. What temp of water do you use? Hydrangeas are one of my fave flowers. I have 3 small bushes I am nursing.
    Blessings~

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  23. such beautiful flowers~
    and such a beatiful little face peeking out...

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  24. Absolutely gorgeous. Truly stunning. Oh how I love, love, love hydrangeas and they will not grow in this Sierra mountain region. I'm waiting on some miracle of botany to have my own. Until then, I'll gush over yours.
    p.s. Your photography is so beautiful, I could look at it all day.

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  25. Trina! These have to be the prettiest images EVER!!! And you took them with sweet Margaret assisting you...she's obviously a marvelous helper!
    Really, these are spectacular...and very frameable, they be so lovely on a bathroom wall, and in a magazine!!;)
    Such fortunate hydrangeas...
    xo J~

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  26. Ohhh that could be an editorial shot right there! So lovely!

    I had no idea you could do this for hydrandeas. I just threw some in the compost because they were all wilting, I'll have to remember this little tip next time!

    xo

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  27. HI Trina, funny we have the same claw foot tub. I love the way that photograph looks. Sweet suggestion. Frame that photo in the bathroom in a pretty chunky white or silver frame. Too sweet for words.
    Lisa

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  28. I too am in love with hydrangeas! I have a brand new backyard to fill too. Where do you purchase your plants?

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  29. Not only are those some of the most beautiful images I have een in a wery long while.... but this trick works like a charm, I have used it myself several times!!! ...after reading about it on the Marthat Stewart website!

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  30. Oh WOW! You give me such inspiration for the day I am able to purchase, renovate and enjoy my dream house!

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  31. You are the hydrangea Queen, Trina! You certainly know how to grow them big and beautiful! :)

    xoxo laurie

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  32. These photos look strangely magical... like the hydrangeas just hovering in the tub. Beautiful flowers and lovely photos!

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  33. More lovely flowers! Peonies are my favorite flower but hydrangeas come next. We had all white varieties when we had our farm, and I miss them all so much.
    Your photographs of them resting in the water are so very beautiful, Trina. The make me very happy. And seeing little Margaret's waving fingers was the icing on the cake!

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  34. The photos are beautiful. I've never thought to do something like that to revive them! Thanks for sharing. Your home is absolutely beautiful and inspiring, by the way :)

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  35. Wow, that photo is worthy of a magazine for sure. So different and so pretty. I bet the kids are getting big aren't they. This should be an exciting season at your home this year. :) Kit

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  36. I have enjoyed your art, frames, hydrangeas, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, Christmas in July, and much more. I found you today and spent time reading about you, viewing the before and afters of the Little Farm House.

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  37. Great pictures. Hortensia is 'national' flower in Brittany...
    Bon vent !

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  38. You have inspired me to plant hydrangeas.

    Anna

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  39. Such gorgeous photos! Printed onto canvas they'd look stunning in a bathroom!!! You obviously know alot about hydrangeas so can you tell me if I can grow them in pots? I want to plant one but we'll be moving house in about a year and I would want to take it with me. Also, are they better in the shade or full sun? (I live in South Africa...). Thanks for a great blog. lol x

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  40. Hi Laura,
    Yes, you can grow them in a pot. They won't grow much bigger until they're planted in the ground but the pot will allow you to take them with you easily.
    Trina

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  41. I am passionate about hydrangeas. The pictures of them floating in that beautiful footed bathtub are stunning. You could turn them into a postcards. I have "Annabelle" hydrangeas surrounding my patio. I dry them every year and then treasure them placed throughout my house in ironstone pitchers.

    I am new to your blog and LOVE it.

    Lisa

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  42. beautiful photos... Margaret is sweet... curious of your photography I see. That is my mums name so it is a dear name to me always.
    KAT

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  43. Your charming pictures and commentary make my day. Because of the pictures of your Limelights that you posted, we planted 4 large plants this year and they produced armfull and armfull of beautiful boquets. The babies are precious.

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  44. That never occurred to me. I'd love to see my husband's reaction to finding a bunch of hydrangeas floating in our tub! I love them too. So beautiful, as is everything on your blog.

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  45. I feel so refreshed...what a beautiful and simply done picture!! I love your blog so much, I leave it feeling rejuvenated and grateful for all the little beauties in my life and so grateful for my little family. Thank you for all the treasures you share, it enriches my life everytime.

    -anneke, montana

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  46. Lavender baths have always been my preference... until now, that is. Beautiful flowers! They remind me of my Dad.

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  47. Im not sure about the flowers, but i really like the tub. Very old school and i like. Richard

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  48. I love the picture with your daughter in it...my son, 2 yrs old, can hear the camera turn on from 3 miles away...and always makes a half-faced appearance by my 2nd picture....then all my other pictures are blurry because I'm trying to occupy him and take photos at the same time. Beautiful and simple...I love your photographs!

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  49. Oh my Trina, these pics are divine! I wanted to ask you what kind of camera do you use, if that's ok? I love the way your pictures came out {I have a regular old point & shoot one}. Anyway, your hydrangeas are stunning & inspiring to say the least!


    Hugs from Los Angeles,
    Jessie

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  50. Your hydrangeas are absolutely breathtaking! I love using them in my designs...but this is the first time I've seen them floating in a tub! :) What a great photo!!
    Your varieties sound just gorgeous and some I have never heard of.
    As always, your posts are lovely and I especially enjoy seeing a "visitor" pop in the picture on occasion. :)
    Wishing you a beautiful week,
    Lisa Moran
    Bilancia Designs
    Bilancia Designs

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  51. Hi Cozy Cottage,

    I use a Canon Rebel xsi.

    Trina

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  52. Your photos are so cool, and the hydrangeas are beautiful! I need to plant more. I just have one. It's hard to grow them this far south as the heat and humidity are hard on them. Mine is solid blue and so pretty. I've enjoyed your blog so much.

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  53. Endless Summer, what an apropos name for these bathing beauties!
    A great post, as always. Hope you all are well.
    xo E + J

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  54. I have been here over a half hour reading your blog and could stay longer... such inspiring blog you have. And those hydrangeas are just amazing... do tell what part of the NW you are? I am in the NW too but I can never grow them here... just dreamy.

    Cielo

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  55. Your post made me laugh. Yes, they do look relaxed floating around in the tub. Great photos!

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  56. Love, love, love your Hydrangeas. Did you know they now have a red hydrangea? I haven't got one planted yet, but it looks to be a stunning and vibrant red. How big are the blooms on the Pee Gee? My nursey had some but they were sad-looking and I got distracted by the multi-coloured lace tops!

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  57. The hydrangeas are lovely...but little Margaret is stunning!

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  58. SO PRETTY AND THEY DO LOOK RELAXED HAPPY FRIDAY

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  59. I've really enjoyed your Hydrangeas throughout the months. I've never seen any as beautiful as yours. I would have never thought of putting them in the tub, but I guess it works. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful flower that alot of people can't grow.

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  60. these photos are GORGEOUS. at first i thought they were renderings. ty planted me 4 hydrangeas in our backyard this summer, 3 of them have really taken off. i'm looking forward to your autumnal posts. i'll be road-tripping from san fran to seattle in the second half of october and can't wait to experience west coast fall.

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  61. beautiful and so inspiring!! Love your blog....

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  62. I love hydrangeas, and have planted several varieties over the last few years. Love your gorgeous ones!!

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  63. Beautiful pictures, beautiful flowers! And your tub has helped me decide on what kind of hardware to get for my own clawfoot!

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  64. Beautiful pictures, beautiful flowers! And your clawfoot tub pic has helped me decide on hardware for my own clawfoot! So...thanks!

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  65. I love your blog! and hydrangeas as well! I have had the climbing one for four years and it is oh! so slow! Hope yours does better than mine!

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  66. Okay Trina, I'm completely smitten by your blog. And I cant stop reading it. Right from your style of writing to your photographs- its seriously good.

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  67. I learned several years ago that hydrangeas not only drink from their stems, but also from their heads. It's a tried and true fact. Hydra, is the japanese word for 'water bowl". This means that they thrive on water. You can soak the entire cutting in a tub or outside sink and they will last much longer when you bring them inside. This is also true for fresh magnolia leaves. I put them in a bathtub of water and cover with a wet beach towel to hold them underwater.
    Also, I've found in lower Alabama, that it helps to plant hydrangeas them on the south or east side of your home. They prefer morning sun and afternoon shade.

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  68. Loved this post, I adore hydrangeas and they look so 'happy' havinga soak. Really love your blog, it's a breath of fresh air.

    Sharon

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Thank you for leaving your thoughts. Kind regards, Catherine

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