Grow A Beautiful Hydrangea Plant Of Your Own

What's the trick to growing your own hydrangea bush?

The only advice I can give you (that has worked for me) is to water your hydrangea bush A LOT and otherwise just ignore it!

I bought an inexpensive blue hydrangea bush in June of 2017 and planted it in a pot. Within a month, the blue got completely washed out as you can see in this photo from a post where I asked for help from other bloggers...

I Asked For Help In This Post

I got a lot of advice like...put a rusty nail in the pot, add coffee grounds once in a while, buy additives at the garden shop that is meant to turn them pink or blue depending on which color you prefer...

The best advice I got was "water it like crazy because the name itself, Hydrangea, indicates water." 

So here we are, 2 years later. I've pretty much watered it like crazy and then ignored it! The pot sits out on the patio all year long. 

In winter we get 2 or 3 small snow storms and the snow piles up on the pot and the poor shriveled plant. Sometimes I look out the window and think the snow is going to kill the plant for sure! 

It was especially cold this past winter, but the plant came back with a vengeance this year and it seems like it can't decide whether to be blue or pink, so it's going for both!

I love it when even a crappy gardener like me can grow flowers like these! 

I see a few hydrangeas flowers for sale in the floral sections at the market, and they sell for more than the price of a potted hydrangea that often has 3 to 6 flowers on it! 

People should know they can buy a potted hydrangea, take it home and water it and cut flowers for the house for years to come.

Thanks for dropping by!

Friday Finds: Long-Lasting Bouquets From Trader Joe's

While we were in a nearby town recently, we stopped at Trader Joe's. While there, I bought a small, inexpensive bouquet of Trader Joe's lovely flowers. 

16 Days Old And Still So Sweet

I'm shocked to say those flowers look almost as pretty today (16 days later) as they did the day I bought them!

As always, this is my personal opinion based on my experience. I receive no payments or products for my endorsements. I am just flabbergasted at how long these lovely little flowers have lasted!

I placed the bouquet in a quart jar on a tray by the kitchen sink with this little soap dispenser shaped like a bee skep. I don't remember exactly where I bought it, but it is so darn cute!

That gave me a chance to add this cute little bee dish towel, which highlights the colors of the kitchen cabinets and counters.

I've been amazed at how long these flowers have lasted as usually the flowers I buy at the floral shops in our local Albertsons and Kroger barely last 2 or 3 days...and cost twice as much!

When I sent a text to my daughters with photos of the flowers, Youngest Daughter replied that she bought some cut Hydrangeas at her local Trader Joe's a while back. She said those flowers also lasted over 2 weeks.

I'll definitely buy my bouquets at Trader Joe's in the future and skip the local floral sections. How about you? Where do you have the best luck buying your flowers? 

Thanks for dropping by!