The garden has been somewhat neglected this summer, at first it was so wet, I’m a fair weather gardener and this year has been particularly wet…until about two weeks ago, now it’s too hot for me to garden…see, I’m typical British, never happy with the weather!

One plant that loves the wet is the hydrangea and they have been wonderful this year…

The lower creamy one is in a pot, I think I got that one a couple of years ago. The pink one behind was planted a long time ago behind the choisya, the choisya was only little at the time and once it overtook it I must admit I pretty much forgot about the hydrangea behind it! Over the last couple of years it’s nudged it’s way to the side and this year it brings colour to quite a dark spot.

These cream ones are beautiful, I love them. I planted these a couple of years ago near the bird feeders. They’ve been in flower for over three weeks already and they still look stunning.

Many years ago (at least ten!!) I bought a beautiful soft blue hydrangea at the Harrogate Flower Show. It was one of those plants that when you’re walking round the show with it people say ‘Oooh, where did you get that from!’ It was gorgeous…and it never flowered again!! I tried it in different spots in the garden, a planter, I bought some special food, I spoke to the guy I’d bought it from a couple of years later – he said I must have pruned it wrong, even though it had never grown enough to prune it!! Eventually last year I moved it up to the far corner of the garden, where the chickens used to be, where it could act as a green shrub if nothing else…well this year it’s flowered!!

They’re not huge blooms, they’re pink rather than blue (the colour of the blooms is dependent on the pH of your soil, so that’s OK) but it’s flowered! They’re very pretty and delicate.

For an unplanned planting, it actually works really well with the plants around it, there’s a darker pink geranium pstilemon, a purple leaved bush as well as the very slightly pink tinged astrantia.

I’m hoping that now it’s got the idea it might flower a bit more prolifically next year, make up for lost time!