Welcome to this weeks In A Vase On Monday, when I am linking up with Cathy from Rambling In The Garden to join in her challenge to find something from the garden to put into a vase every week.
This is quite a challenge this week as I am once again away from home. I have been spending a few days in a beautiful hotel in Lanzarote, catching some sun with my husband and eldest daughter who is starting her first grown up job later this week. I am surrounded by beautiful flowers like the lovely hibiscus below, but there is nothing here in a vase to share with you.
Fortunately I was in an organising mood last week and made a vase before we left home – just in case I had trouble this week.
My hydrangea arborescens “Annabelle’ is looking beautifully fresh at the moment so it was a perfect candidate for a vase. After chopping some heads off I arranged these blooms outside and took a few photos in the evening light.
The jug was then moved inside to its final position on the mantle in the dining room. You can see that I have included a few stems of Bells of Ireland to add a bit of green contrast to these delicate ivory blooms.
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ is a perfect flower for my dining room as it matches the blooms on my dining room curtains!
As a final thought, this hydrangea is a beautiful bloom to decorate a wedding gift with. If we have a wedding or anniversary to celebrate in August I will often wrap the gift in a sheet of white or ivory plain paper and cover the paper with a piece of lace. I will then add a small head of Annabelle to decorate the present. Sadly I have never taken a photo of this, so cannot share it with you, but I will make sure to capture this the next time I wrap a present this way!
In the garden Annabelle is a very easy plant. Cut back hard every spring she is soon full of these large but delicate flowers which are airy enough to survive a rain storm and do not drag the flower stems down too much. The flowers open in a shade of lime green, progress to white and then fade gently to brown. The brown heads will stand all winter until I have had enough of them in spring and cut everything down to about 12 inches from the ground. A quick feed with fish, blood & bone is all the attention the plant needs, apart from a good watering during dry hot periods.
I am flying home in the morning and will be back later this week with more photos of hydrangeas taken on my recent visit to Petersham Nurseries. In the meantime I must get ready for dinner! Thank you as ever to Cathy for hosting and I hope you will pop over to her blog to she what she and the others have made this week.
Insert your profile info here, by going to Users -> Your Profile -> Biographical Info. Profile image (avatar) comes from gravatar.com. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam faucibus ornare lectus nec cursus.
Simple perfection! I am enjoying Annabelle more and more – and I am interested to hear you cut yours right back in spring. I haven’t been quite as thorough but I might give it a try as you find it so successful. Hope you enjoyed your dinner and are having a lovely week with the family
A wonderful vacation, good for you! And the vase is perfect…I have had 2 Annabelle die here which is unheard of but I hope to plant more. Love to see the wedding gift idea in the future.
Your Annabelle hydrangeas are lovely, Julie! As you know, hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers and I like the delicate look of Annabelle. We just finished adding our patio cover and it is white so these would be perfect new additions to the backyard. Do you know if they will grow in pots?
Enjoy your vacation!
Lisa
Sorry for the delay replying Lisa – I grow lots of hydrangeas in pots and they are very successful. I have never tried Annabelle in a pot but I am sure she would be very happy – just remember she will need lots of water. Your patio cover sounds like a great addition – I am sure you are very pleased to have more shade!
I simply love hydrangeas and yours is stunning! Because of the heat, mine do not look so well this summer.
Annabelle is lovely isn’t she. I can really see her lighting up a dark corner of my garden.
I am impressed by your organisation 🙂 Annabelle is gorgeous. So pure and delicate.Loving your photos too! Enjoy the rest of your holiday.
I so wish I could grow that Hydrangea…I hope you’re enjoying your holiday!
I love to read about plants too…your Annabelle sounds delightful. I have just one hydrangea in the garden, and will post more details there. However I shall be on the look out for this one.
Scrumptious flowers and photos Julie. The hydrangeas look like perfection itself.
The Annabelle hydrangeas are so lovely, especially the way you photographed them where they are focused on the individual florets against soft background focus. I like them also with the colored hydrangeas for contrast, and the white on white with the vase and clock. They are so pouffy and round, yet complex.