Just had to post a picture of my lace cap Blue Bird behind my collie Skye and to your right (you can't see it but I have 2 Blue Bird bushes in bloom and a Preciosa between them coming into bloom).
Beverly
Look at my lace caps (dog optional)
OOhh--I have 'Blue Bird' too...eagerly awaiting blooms. Love the dog! Both are very pretty...(the plants and the dog!).
Thanks! Of course you'd like the dog, lol! He's funny in real-life too. He has GERD and was put on Prevacid for a spell. And he liked crunching the Prevacid pills. So now that he's better, he keeps looking for his pill, like when I take my morning and evening meds. So silly.
Blue Bird just gets prettier very day. This is a shady site, these give me nice blooms here without fuss, my kind of plants. The idea was to get the hyds to cover the air conditioner compressor from view, one day in the future. They were planted last year.
I took some better pictures of the hyds, especially now that Preciosa bloomed. No dog in these.
Enjoy! More Blue Bird.
Another shot of Blue Bird (the lace cap flower really fascinates me).
Here's Preciosa, the small mop cap weighs down the stems.
Hi, Beverly! Excellent dog and great hydrangeas! I really like the blue bird. How big will it get?
Below is a picture of some hydrangeas at my old house. I moved 2 yrs ago & I'm a bit worried that the drought & heat here may have doomed some of my new hydrangeas.
Pat in Cincinnati
Hi Pat,
Sorry for the late reply. Heat won't doom hyds, but give them water in the heat - I find mine drink a lot. I made a mistake and planted my Nikko Blue in afternoon western sun, oh well, it gets a drink nearly every summer afternoon. I was smarter with the rest, except for the rebloomer, that I may have planted in too much shade. The rebloomer is small enough to move but Nikko Blue has been in place for about 10 years; no moving that one!
Cold will doom them, they need winter-protection so the buds won't freeze. I don't know how big Blue Bird will get since mine is only a little over a year old. I'll probably wind up pruning to keep it in line with Preciosa, trying to cover an air conditioner compressor with the hyds.
You're in the same zone as I am; I have yet to winterize mine (that is, get DH to winterize them, lol). Have you done anything to yours yet?
Beverly
Hi, Beverly,
Thanks for the reply. I'm in Cincinnati, OH, & we have had the wierdest weather this year.
For close to 2 months it was above 90 every day, with no rain. In northern Ohio, they were out in canoes because of flooding, but here we got 13 inches behind in rain. We've only had our first good frost this week!
Having said all that, my handrangeas are planted pretty close to the house. We have a bit of a microclimate here, & the hyds on two sides of the house seem to weather it all without much protection. We'd had a very late spring ice storm that knocked down tree branches, etc, and did freeze the buds on 3 of the hydrangeas, but they've all recovered, set buds or bloomed (in the case of the Little Lamb) & are only now starting to drop their leaves.
I'm going to ask my nurseryman to be on the lookout for a Blue Bird for me -- he's a great fan of hyds, too, & willing to look for the more off the beaten path varieties for me.
Take care of that handsome dog, too!
Pat
bbinnj, tell me about the Preziosa! I have one ordered, and it should be arriving any day now. Do you have to give it winter protection? I'm a few zones cooler than you, and have heard that the buds will freeze off if I don't build a cage and cover with leaves. I also just planted a Pinky Winky, which is supposed to be hardier, and will bloom on new wood. Can't wait to see both of them--they are my first venture into hydrangeas.
How is yours doing this spring?
Preziosa requires protection is Zone 5a. It does well unprotected in Zones 6-9. The bloom color change from white to shades of pink (or blue if soil is acidic) & good leaf fall color change make it a good plant overall, bookerc1. Even the maroon stems contrast nicely with the dark green leaves. While hydrangeas need part shade here in Texas, provide this one with some more sun for a great bloom color display.
Thanks, Luiz. I'm sure I'll have more questions come winter, when it is time to protect it!