![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqxoAnrbEIvQFCbHhF6AL591VQ9I0TqohB1JhzLl03iB9Xded_2-pkgjBJILdcrhJ4Rgspm9GQGIqkM-pqG_gfCcCrBHGtPvHZyH7l2x28IUrhD5BUC9wfuNGABtT9OMPT7PeSqyIX4sw/s400/DSC01709.JPG++hydragea+blooming+in+my+garden+in+2013.jpg)
in bloom in my garden in 2013
Well, it hasn’t exactly been a year without hydrangeas. Some of my lace caps and my oakleaf made it. But this year, the hydrangeas I love the most (hydrangea macrophylla AKA mopheads) were nowhere to be seen in the gardens of the Delaware valley.
It was not only the hydrangeas in my own garden which I sorely missed. I loved seeing all the gorgeous blooms in gardens all over my neighborhood. Northwest Philadelphia is a beautiful place overflowing with mature trees and flowering shrubs and I hadn’t realized how much I enjoyed seeing all the hydrangeas in the neighborhood gardens--both those well-tended and those seriously neglected. Once established hydrangeas will bloom forever—unless they’re subjected to a brutal bud-blasting winter such as the winter of 2014.
But in gardening for every disappointment there is always a consolation. Usually the oakleafs start out bright white, fade to pale pink and then turn brown—usually sometime in early to mid-July. This year, probably due to all the rainfall, the oakleaf panicles are still pink.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMulVMIDoY9zdCT9FCYKav67fOXyc-bVfLm_o9b2821te7sQA195nmDg8vxJEzgW1qdIhug0jWtkiedJ6lPQ9rYpONjE98haDSNblJVTNApv6TxvTuoOqbmLiYCgx7XHTDzXw1FegRecb/s400/DSC01981.JPG+pink+oakleaf.jpg)
And the late blooming hydrangeas which tend to be very hardy are starting to bloom
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBFYvwboF2NTqMpM2P1hQOWE_qWjhob7YwWnma7MVmqY3ac-fD352hoOhLFZV7XZgvd07VTDWNj1UGIHODvaZKYO-r1OJWr4owI8qGCYXmu_Rz4A7iHXKeP2Rhtn4JZQZP-oQsXNJzJZsU/s400/DSC01983.JPG+tardive.jpg)
But we gardeners are always looking towards the next season and next year I hope to see Nikko Blue again. Two years without my beloved mopheads would be too cruel.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhbtkt5cDPXFhHakUcGD2P2e5i6rWU8XFIenzDEp8tpTjTJvO0LZSQPGMqou4YzCyQZb9Bekzz37vw-umDw2vlD2ZP9U0OAEE3JhnxG9M21UlrZZpHlJwEpUm-AX2Dlgn3_buRgIE7jHFs/s400/DSC01684.JPG+++Nikko+blue+2013.jpg)
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