Hydrangeas

The fluffy blue hydrangea flowers usually just turn brown after they bloom, but occasionally they'll semi-dry on the bush in these gorgeous autumn shades.  I don't know what kind of weather causes it.  After so many fresh flowers all summer it's fun to scrounge around and cut a few special last bouquets.The prettiest of the year, in some ways.

I don't garden-think much in the summer, because I'm too busy keeping up with watering and weeding. But yesterday I noticed there's only a few plants still alive from when we first moved here, over 30 years ago.  The indestructible laurel hedge, of course; an enormous holly tree that once blew over but sprouted back from the stump (I guess that counts) and a couple of scrawny hydrangea bushes that have survived decades of pruning abuse and water neglect. They may be in the twilight of their years.  Once Amanda and her little friends would pretend they were cheerleaders with the ripped off pom-poms, there were so many.

Other than those relics, everything else in this rampant yard, including a fine selection of invasive species, was planted over the years by Yours Truly.  I've lived long enough to see sticks turn into immense trees, shrubs and bamboo thickets. 

P. Allen Smith (known as the Martha Stewart of the South) has a method (of course) for drying hydrangeas.   Sorry, Allen--  I think Nature still does it best in a dry lucky summer.