I’m sitting on the glider this morning, enjoying the porch before it gets too hot to be out here. So much bird song! We’re due for another day of temperatures in the 90s before storms roll in. Actually, while I’ve been sitting here, the sky has clouded over. But there’s a nice breeze and my goodness, I love the sound of birds.
Yesterday, I watered twice, simply because it was so darned hot and humid.
I am so much happier at this time of year. Green everywhere, wildflowers popping up, bunnies, birds, groundhogs, chipmunks, my porch once again becoming an extra room. Don was out here with me for a while this morning and I said to him – yes, money is extremely tight, the world has gone mad, we’ll be paying this mortgage for the rest of our lives – but this porch, this view, this peace we feel when we get to work and enjoy our property, that’s what we wanted and thought we’d never have. And we have it.
Here’s what is happening with my Annabelle hydrangea:
A lot of new shoots are coming up from the ground and they’re growing taller every day. I want to give them room and cut back more of the old stalks, but then I see something like this on a stalk I thought was dead:
Do I still cut some of it back to give the new shoots room to grow?
And ideas would be welcome!
We just had a wee bit of rain. One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting on folding aluminum chairs on our porch, watching the rain come in, and seeing just how long we could stay out there without getting wet.
There’s a quick little video of the Secret Garden on my IG this morning.
Stay safe.
Happy Sunday.
I’ve had the same hydrangea for coming up on 40 years – every year I prune out the “oldest” (eg flakey bark, or less vigorous) looking stalks, aiming for about a 3rd of the total. I also cut off any dead tip ends, etc. It has been very healthy and rewarding, even though through the winter its a bundle of dead looking sticks.
ceci
Thanks so much, Ceci!
Stay safe.
I agree with Ceci. I’ve been doing the same thing but only for 17 years!
You may not get any blooms this year.
Received my Country Living magazine yesterday. Very pretty full page of egg cups. I think I recognized your jadite cup.
Enjoy the day!
Betsy
Thanks so much, Betsy!
Stay safe.
sorry: no prune-or-not-prune-the-hydrangeas ideas from me. no experience with such things (except with my six or seven house plants and that doesn’t apply here). also, i know your gardening experiences and love of plants will get you and the hydrangeas through.
your porch is beautiful anyway and especially so with all the greenery and flowers … wow. gratitude is even more a beautiful thing!
hope all that heat doesn’t arrive there for you or here for us. not fun anytime and also it’s not august! heard that our last five summers have been our hottest on record and this summer is also expected to be “very hot and very dry”. :( wish they’d be wrong about that.
need to get going.
happy, safe sunday to you all.
kathy
We had that heat yesterday (a heat index of 98 degrees) and we have it today. Can’t go outside because it’s so dreadful!
Stay safe, Kathy.
dear Claudia/Don — your porch is indeed a special place to be — glad you all can enjoy it — your home/property is great — know you are blessed/thankful. don’t know re: hydrangeas trimming but we cut out the old stalks in the spring so sun/rain has better access — sometimes older more established plants of all kinds need a little pruning. we had that awful heat/humidity for several days, but today is cloudy w/a nice breeze/lower temps — very welcome here. of course, won’t last long but we are enjoying it right now. hope you two have a good day. stay healthy/safe
I’ve already pruned some of it. I’m just a bit wary about pruning more in case any of the stalks develop leaves.
Thanks so much, Linda.
Stay safe.
I’m not the one to ask on hydrangeas — or any plants for that matter. But it’s exciting to see the new growth!
I know what you mean about this time of year, especially after a hard, cold winter. Seeing everything “wake up” is such a joyful sign. It smells good, looks good, even feels good. It’s our gift for surviving snow and ice!
It sure is! Winter is so hard, we need this reward!
Stay safe, Jeanie.
Hello.
I received my copy of “Country Living.” I was very disappointed in the small presentation of the egg cups. I do not know which ones were yours and there is a credit on page 103 to you and others..
Your porch is lovely and I have the same wire planter.
Take Care,
Kaye
Oh, I knew it would be small, it’s a part of their collecting feature. Not an article, just a little photo. Though I do think the photo staging is a bit boring. I could have done that, and I don’t stage things for a living.
The green jadeite cup is mine as well as the blue and white delft cup from Holland – in the bottom row.
Stay safe, Kaye.
Annabelle hydrangea’s should be cut in February/March to about
15 – 20 cm. The flowers appear on the new twigs, normally.
However my neighbour cuts them down in October to 40-50 cm.
They flower the next year abundantly.
I wish I had a porch like yours, it looks very nice.
Thank you for the tips, Dorien!
Stay safe.
Loved the wrought iron planters with pots….the porch looks yunny and cool. I spent this morning cleaning our back covered porch and unpacking some of my wind chimes. I love the sounds they make. If we only had some breeze. I went to the farm stand and overdid it again so tonight and tom. and the day after we will be eating lots of salads. Did your lilacs bloom yet? My very favorite scent. Stay cool…loved the little chippy chair on the porch. Looks like a pretty Hallmark card!
Lilacs have bloomed and gone. So short a time for such beauty.
My wind chimes were my parents. When my dad died, I brought them home. I think my sister has some as well.
Stay safe, Maria.
Sorry, I know nothing of hydrangeas. But I certainly love the photo of your green, green view.
Yes, money is tight. My husband and just cannot BELIEVE the cost of groceries and are really modifying what we buy; some prices on some food items have doubled. If we’re out, about all we can afford to munch on for fun in the car is a dollar-drink special and maybe share some fries unless we have a very good coupon for a meal at the drive-up (which we can half between us).
I couldn’t quite believe this but my husband had to go to the pharmacy for a drug pickup this morning, called first to see if the store was busy because we’re really starting the avoidance again due to our Covid numbers increasing. All was good (we’re a small town; you can make a call like that!) and when he asked, once at the pharmacy counter, if they had any free/spare masks, they gave him an entire bagful of new N95s because they said nobody is asking for them anymore.
And such is indeed our mad, mad world.
Vicki glad you were able to get the masks. Yes our county here the rates are spiking but there are very few mask wearers. Soon the tourists will be coming
And they will throw caution to the wind. All we can do is take care of ourselves.
Yes everything is going up at the market. It must be very difficult if you have a family to feed.
Don was saying the same thing. Everything has gone up in price.
Oh heavens. People aren’t buying masks. We have to order some more this week because we certainly aren’t going to stop wearing them.
Stay safe, Vicki.
I love your porch! So nice and listening to the birds is so soothing to me. It was hot here today. I spent some time with my Granddaughter and it was always magical. Hugs!
She’s a delight, Linda.
Stay safe.
Well, a little late to reply (been sick; sigh). Couldn’t resist an “Ahh” and “Oh, Wren” at the adorable pic!
I especially appreciated what you wrote about being an introvert. Being one in a large family of mostly extroverts, life wasn’t always pleasant. Constantly heard, “why are you so quiet,” etc. Reading saved me. Also, appreciate what you wrote and others added about prices. It’s so odd to buy something one month then pay so much more for it the next! Ugh!
On a more pleasant note, love the flowers and the bee pic is really special. Can’t give any gardening advice, either, but I do cut back my raspberry bushes way down every fall after constant nagging/reminders from people who really did know more than me! tee hee
Thanks for your saneness and sharing your life and home, Claudia.
Funny – when I temporarily lost my IG book account, I named my replacement account “Reading Saved Me.” And it id.
I’ve never had to cut back my hydrangeas before, but there’s always a first time!
Stay safe, Caroline. I hope you’re feeling better.