The Hydrangea has been another late-comer into my realm of favoured flowering plants – in a similar way to the Dahlia and Rose – it took discovering the flowers in their perfect environment to awaken the admiration in me …

It was in this very garden last summer where and when I realised that hydrangeas were more than just the blousy pompon blooms of suburban front gardens, which came out either pink or blue depending on the soil they were planted in.
It was this particular bush –  Hydrangea aborescens –  that really opened my eyes -: a delicate froth of pale-pink petals, like the lace of fairy’s bonnet.

I was so impressed that I purchased my own from the Place for Plants garden centre, as it gives a romantic, cottage-style effect to my own back garden …

 

There are hydrangea bushes dotted all around the garden – and one day I will try to capture each and every variety and shade. For this particular visit, I concentrated on the shrubs closest to the lower ponds and tried my hardest to record all the names. I only missed a few that were without labels … The sheer variety of colours and shapes kept me busy for 2 hours, with no one else to disturb the tranquility – apart from a small mouse I spotted rustling through the undergrowth.

 

The different shades within one particular variety amazed me …

 

Next – there was a variety called Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Burgundy’ – with huge oak-shaped leaves, although curiously enough at this stage there is no sign of ‘Burgundy’ whatsoever. As Autumn approaches, however, the flowers apparently turn from creamy white, through pinkish hues to deeper purple red, with the oak leaves taking on the gorgeous red shades of the season. I will have to return to capture an image of this transformation …

Each different variety had a slightly different shade – this ‘Green Shadow’ also has a colour change throughout its lifespan – I loved it as it was with its cool violet petals with blue stamens and buds …

 

The ‘Rotschwanz’ below had really impressed me last Summer – for its rich wine-red petals and how gloriously it stood out against the backdrop of the pond with its covering of lime green. It was still as impressive as I had remembered.

 

It was hard to believe that there could possibly be more colours to feast upon …

 

And to finish – Hydrangea grandiflora ‘Paniculata’ –  the most wonderful frothy cream flower-heads tinged with pink on arching boughs – which looked graceful and delicate enough for a Fairy Queen’s wedding bower …

 

As you can now no doubt appreciate, the Hydrangeas at East Bergholt Place told a story so much richer than just pink and blue …