Absolutely beautiful! We built a new home along a wooded area a year and a half ago. I haven't done any planting back there yet (been busy with the front and side yards) but you've certainly given me some wonderful ideas! Do you have problems with weeds from the woods getting into your gardens? How do you control them? We have some nasty buckthorn and some sort of creeping vine that I'm afraid would try to take over the beds immediately!

Thanks for the wonderful pics and any info you can give me!

Thank you, Miriam for taking the time to show us these pictures. Wow! You've accomplished a lot with your garden. If I were you, I'd make myself a mint julep, sit down on that beautiful deck, and pat myself on the back for creating such a wonderful place. Hay.

Well, I have to second that suggestion, Hay! Especially if she invites us all over to join her!!!

Miriam, your garden is gorgeous....a beautiful spot to sit and relax. I love the combination of hydrangeas and hostas. Your deck is beautiful and I see your cute kitty enjoys it there too. Thanks for sharing all the photos. Jogasaki and Lanath White are breathtaking.

Pam

I have a feeling that when Miriam posts her pics, hydrangea sales go through the roof!!!...yg

Shirley,
I don't have much of a problem with weeds. In early 2001 I had to start pulling out vinca and ivy as my whole backyard was covered with it. I dug up nandina, acuba, had 3 huge pine trees removed, cut down spindly dogwoods, had a rock wall built, irrigation system installed, leveling done and sod laid. I am surprised I don't have a bigger weed problem but I cleaned the soil of roots etc. so well when I did my prep. Here's what it looked like in the fall of 2000:

What is that word that I am looking for...oh yea...WOW! Thanks a bunch for sharing your pictures. A year ago I had zero hydrangeas. Last fall I planted an Oakleaf ('Alice') and this spring I planted 3 Lacecaps ('Blue Bird'). I have plans for a walk on the north side of my house and I want it to look exactly like your garden. Thanks again for the inspiration!

I have a question about some of your pink hydrangeas. I assume your soil in GA in acidic. Do you treat some of your hydrangeas to keep them pink or are those hydrangeas that will bloom pink even in acidic soil.

- Brent

I love the way you've mixed your hydrangeas in so well with other plants. Some nice plant combinations. As much as I love hydrangeas sometimes people go with too much of a good thing, you garden has a lot of supporting characters that really make your Hydrangeas shine.

I also like your use of groundcovers with your Hydrangeas, I've had good luck with Pachasandra too and even ajuga and the Hydrangeas don't seem to mind at all, and the sticks in the winter look a bit more "sculptural" coming out of the gree groundcover.

Brent,
Thanks for your comments. The main pink one between the blue billows and nachtigall is preziosa, which doesn't look very pink the in pictures but is. It starts out white and no matter what your soil, it will turn a spotty dark pink/crimson. My other pinks are either in pots, recently put in the ground (pia, sibilla), or so some freak reason, stayed pink. I have never treated with lime or anything to change the colors. The dark pink one in the cluster with the Madame Emile is one I propagated from a neighbor 4 years ago(you can only see one bloom in the pic). I took a cutting because it was such a beautiful dark pink, and was obviously over 5 years old. I've just been lucky because it has stayed that pink naturally. I have heard that lime can leach off of a house foundation, changing the soil and this one is planted right near my 60 year old house. But, the Charm near it is blue so who knows. I don't attenpt to figure out why the are the color they are, I just enjoy it! Miriam

Miriam, your garden is beautiful...especially those blue Hydrangeas...How do you keep them so healthy?
Mine are being destroyed by SOMETHING that's eating them...I have seen tiny round' bugs on the leaves and we have fireants in the yard. Any cure to save my plants?
Thanks.

Simply gorgeous garden -- like the ones pictured in Southern Accents magazine!!!

Many thanks for sharing your pics!

I really wish I could see your pictures. All I see is "Photobucket.com Bandwidth Exceeded"

I also wish I could see your pictures. All I see is photobucket com bandwithy exceeded. could you advise how we can see the pictures. We are missing out.
bwr

Absolutely stunning! I am in zone 6. What is the secret to getting hydrangea to bloom? I have 3 and only got blooms the year I planted them! :( They are all about 3-4 years old now.

Sorry to all of you who can't see the pictures. I guess Photobucket only allows a certain number of viewings a month. July 1 you should be able to see them.

As far as how I keep them blooming and healthy, I think the ways to do that are (with Macrophyllas):
1. Enough water (after all, the name Hydrangea comes from the word hydrant)
2. Right location. If your hyd gets too much or too little sun (or dappled shade) they may not bloom properly. It has to be 'happy' to bloom. In the South, morning sun and afternoon shade is working for me.
3.Pruning (or lack of). Generally if you prune after the end of July you may be cutting off next years blooms. I do take out the dead stems in the spring but thats it.
4. Little or no fertilizer. It may make your bushes lush and green but generally won't improve the blooming.

You know what they say about Hydrangeas, "Make a rule about a hydrangea and it will make a liar out of you."
Miriam

well I guess I won't get a change to see your pictures, It early in the morning on Jujy 1. 2005 and I still get the same statement, which will not allow your pictures to be shown, the funny thing about it is that just after I last attempted to look at your pictures, another person came along and he was able to click on you pictures. would you do us a favor and check your pictures.
thanks
bwr

I love seeing Miriam's garden pictures. Thank you again for posting them.

I hope you won't mind a suggestion for all of us who want to share our pictures.

Irfanview is a free download that allows you to very simply resize your pictures. Resize so that it fits the screen and resize so that there is less bytes and a faster download. In just a couple of clicks I can take a large picture and resize it to a width of about 700 which will fit most screens. Another couple of clicks and I can save the picture with a reduced byte size. I can take a huge 500 kb file and reduce it to about 70-125 kb and to my eye the quality doesn't really change that much.

Miriam knows aboutPhotobucket, but for those of you who don't, it's a free image hosting service that lots of us use. Very easy and simple to use.

Free to a point though. As we're seeing here, they do restrict the amount of bandwidth. To deal with that restriction, it helps to downsize the byte size of the picture with Irfanview like I mention above. But beyond that, if you link the pictures in the thread instead of posting the picture directly, then every time someone new posts and I want to view the thread, I won't be downloading the pictures all over again (using up your allocation of bandwidth in the process).

To link, first get the address for the picture from Photobucket and then type something that looks like this:
<a href=ADDRESS>SAY SOMETHING HERE</a>

(Note there is only one space... between a and href)

The address will look something like

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v55/Hayseedman/000_1541onemore70055.jpg

and Photobucket will provide it for you to copy and paste. My links to Photobucket and Irfanview above were coded this way.

Put it all together and you get{{gwi:1006604}}

If anyone tries this and needs help let me know. Hay.

Now, more pictures, please!!

this ? is to Hayseedman, all I want to do is veiw the pictures, are you saying that I must link or reg. with photobucket. if so please tell me how to do this. I am new and don't quite get the process.
thanks for your guidence throu this jungle.
bwr

How do i access these pictures...Thank you.

Bwt, the problem here is that Photobucket will limit the amount of viewing of Miriam's pictures. And now that the limit has been reached we won't be able to see them. Before that limit was reached anyone could see them in the thread. You would not have needed to do anything on your part like registering to Photobucket or linking to Photobucket.

The only reason you would want to register with Photobucket is so you could let them host your pictures so that you could share them with us.

I don't know the details of Photobuckets policies, but perhaps they will allow viewing the pictures after some time.

They were very nice. Hay.

Hi,

I don't see any of the pics from Miram's garden??? Instead of pictures, I see only titles and below them photobucket.com bandwidth exceeded. How can I see these pics?? Thank you very much,

Dragana

Miriam, thanks for sharing some of the pictures. as the young folk say "AWESOME". Again thanks and I am looking forward to seeing some of the other pictures.
bwr. also a thanks to hayseedman for his information.
bwr.

One word .....WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is July 9, and I'm able to see every picture. It's a gorgeous garden. I'm like one of the other posters in that I'm not good at placement. You've really organized well!

Am I in heaven? I'm speechless. Spectacular garden!

Miriam, that was just truly SPECTACULAR! Your whole garden was amazing. The choice of plants, the colors, the textures... everything was just amazing! I love your deck too. How long did it take you to get your garden to be like this? I want a yard like this!!!

Thanks for sharing the utterly beautiful pictures!

I know this original post is from a year ago, but WOW.

It deserves to be seen again. ...beautiful garden.

Jim

ps: can I move in ?!?! : )

I've got to echo the Wows! Fantastic work, Miriam.

Thanks, Jim, for bringing this up again. I missed it the first time around.

Thanks to Miriam for giving us such a marvelous tour. I like the companion plantings. I'm in the same state (GA) but a couple zones away and garden in a more sub-tropical area. Those big hostas make wonderful accents. I'm thinking I can use gingers instead since they thrive in heat and humidity and return here. Hostas just limp along for me because they don't get enough chill.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Variegated Mariesii with Halcyon Hosta

Absolutely beautiful, Miriam! What an incredible garden transformation...the plantings, the deck redo...just perfect. Thanks for taking the time to share these pictures.

Sue

Your garden and your deck are breathtaking. Good work!

Beautiful! I am absolutely Envious! Gorgeous Deck, too.

Wow - breathtaking pictures. I especially love the ones along the path. We just put in a flagstone path this year and have hydrangeas all along it. Can't wait for all the plants to mature.

And I forgot to say, being a cat lover, I love the kitty on the deck too.

So glad you brought this post forward again, Silvergold. I enjoy it more each time I see it. It is a "can't miss" for anyone who loves hydrangeas!! and an inspiration too.....yg

Amazing garden! Love your deck and stained furniture - fantastic!

I am bumping this up again this year because its my favorite hydrangea garden.

yes lets see more of this garden and others

I love your garden! It's Beautiful!

Yet another beautiful garden, jclay. Miriam's is just stunning, as well. What a peaceful haven.

Ya know I think I heard that phrase in my youth, that cold sets the buds, but I just don't think it makes any sense. I think what you've got are incredibly healthy and maturing plants.

Since folks are posting pics in addition, what the heck. I have a bumper crop of hydrangeas this year, too. My Endless Summer hedge has met and exceeded my expectations.

Here's a pic:

{{gwi:1006638}}

I tried to resize it, hope it works.

OMG-- these pictures are all slices of PARADISE. Thank you for sharing!

WoW what a garden. You must be very proud. Thanks for sharing.

I am so greatful to you for taking the time to provide the pictures of your outrageously beautiful yard, home and hydrangeas - I have enjoyed them all SO much! Thank you again and again. The only thing that hydrangeas miss is FRAGRANCE. If I were younger, I think I would try very hard to create a fragrant variety. Is there anyone out there in Hyddrangea Heaven that has developed the frangrance, and where would a plant of it be found? Again, Thank You, Donna from WA STATE.

I am so greatful to you .Miriam, for taking the time to provide the pictures of your outrageously beautiful yard, home and hydrangeas - I have enjoyed them all SO much! Thank you again and again. The only thing that hydrangeas miss is FRAGRANCE. If I were younger, I think I would try very hard to create a fragrant variety. Is there anyone out there in Hydrangea Heaven that has developed the fragrance, and where would a plant of it be found? Again, Thank You, Donna from WA STATE.

Ayesha is reputed to have a slight scent but I can not detect it.

Miriam,

Your hydrangea garden is truly stunning! What really surprised me is how closely you did your interplanting. Have you run into any issues with the hydrangeas growing perhaps too closely with each other? I love the look, but have always been to nervous about going that close. Thoughts?

The only one that is too big or overtaking the area is my penny Mac. All the others are still a good size. One of my favorites is Merrits Supreme because of its predictable size.

I'm looking for a deep purple hardy in zone 6b. any recommendations?

Princeton, you might want to start a new thread titled purple hydrangeas flowers. (Go to the top of this page, click the green linke that says Hydrangeas, and then type your question into the box at the top of the page.)

But color of macrophylla/big leaf hydrangeas is changed by pH in many cases. Do you know what your pH is?