Things I Miss About the UK 4: hyrangeas

Yep, it's summer time back home. Which is the time I feel most homesick - as it's the time when England is truly joyous and beautiful. And it reminds me of childhood, when we lived in a rural country cottage, with an acre-big garden full of trees, flowers and shrubs. 

And hydrangeas were - and still are - one of my favourite summer plants. Hyrdrangea flowers actually change colour depending on the acidity of the soil. A strongly acid soil produces blue flowers, an alkaline one, pink. With various shades (even on one plant) of mauve in between. There are also 'lacecap' styles - frilly, flat bursts of flowers; and the traditional ones which give you large 'puffs' of blooms. The ones we had at home were in both styles and mostly blue/purple. 

But what I love about them the most is their cool lusciousness. Getting amongst a big, healthy, dark-leaved hydrangea shrub is like hanging with a huge, fragrant, cooling, salad-y thing. They were one of my favourite spots in the garden in hot summers! These plants require a lot of water, which is possibly why they can be so generous with their green calmness in the heat; it also explains their name.

In fact (perhaps ironically) hydrangeas originate from Asia, chiefly North East Asia - but apparently with some varieties found in Indonesia (I've never seen any). But the ones I remember are the temperate shrubs over an English summer :)