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Clark County Mini-Tour

It is a rare rainy day here in August (or more accurately, a wet, drizzly day). That means a break from watering and a good chance to catch up on blogging and other computer-related tasks. Before I continue with my England tour highlights, I wanted to share photos from this past Sunday's mini-tour of four gardens here in Clark County (an event sponsored by HPSO - Hardy Plant Society of Oregon). I saw three of the gardens on Sunday. I had already visited the fourth one, Lynne Heidsiek's native habitat garden, when she was part of the Study Weekend tour that we were on.  Our first stop was the marvelous shade garden of Margaret Stapenhorst. A bluestone patio is surrounded by towering mature trees that shade a woodland garden. There was a fern table and a moss garden, as well as garden art by Steve Farris. Loved, loved the waterfall. This is what I'd like to do in our front garden, but I don't know if we have the room. Just a few streets over is the garden of Eloise and Bo...

Hydrangea "Amethyst"



Here is another hydrangea that would be on my top 10 list. It is a compact grower, no taller than 3 feet and wide, with large, tight blooms. Most books say that the flower color is pale pink to violet but in our garden, it is a bright robin's egg blue. It is in a bed lined with bricks and sided by concrete steps. I don't know if that affects the bloom color but I suspect it does. The flowers have white centers in the early stag of blooming and the sepals are serrated.









Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. That is a beautiful hydrangea. I love the deep blue.

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  2. The color is beautiful. Nice, big blooms on a relatively compact plant.
    Marnie

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  3. Very nice specimen. I know that aluminum is necessary in the soil to produce blue pigment.

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  4. I really like these blue hydrangea. I did however see a really tacky display of them which left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm trying to get over it, but it's going to take some time.

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  5. What a sweet plant. It looks like a baby Niko blue.

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  6. It is a beauty dress in its blue. The compact shrub makes it very appealing for small gardens.

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  7. You are torturing me with these gorgeous hydrangea blooms and vignettes! :-)

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  8. Very nice! I sure with I had more shady spaces for hydrangeas like that. Of course then I'd be providing a deer buffet...

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  9. You sure have the touch with the Hydrangeas. The frilly petals are so pretty.

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  10. The concrete steps would add alkalinity to the soil which would turn the blooms pink. That is our problem in So. Cal. with highly alkaline water, we can't get those beautiful blue bloom like you do. It is lovely!

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  11. Your hydrangea looks perfect by the steps and birdbath. I like hydrangeas planted along a path, so I can enjoy the blossoms close-up as I walk past. I am planning to add more hydrangeas to a path which already has several varieties. I will keep this one in mind!

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