#limelight hydrangea

istg if i'm ever given japanese tree lilacs, lily of the valley and limelight hydrangea we are getting married on the spot

Took the dogs walking Friday night: 

Saturday & we’re still freezing: 

This footpath in the backyard is a delight to the sense of smell. It transitions from green onions to tomato plants then Phlox David: 

Our mouse-ear hosta has blossomed:  

Scarlet Emperor pole bean buds: 

Bumblebee on echinacea: 

Black soldier fly larvae. For the curious, the bronze material on the left is an onion peel and the stuff that looks like hair on the right is dog hair. Our Lhasas produce a lot of hair that needs to be cut & combed out so we compost it:  

Larvae on the cob:  

Crepe Myrtle in bloom: 

Bumblebee on our speedwell: 

This is a different bumblebee. I don’t know where this lady goes before she comes to our yard but she always has those thick orange thighs: 

Our limelight hydrangea is blossoming out. That’s a neighbor’s house in the background: 

This is what worm castings look like in the wild: 

Summertime photo of a medium-sized, traditional, drought-tolerant concrete paver garden path in the front yard.

Hello. Meet Gamora.

Gamora started off as a 2 gallon panicle limelight hydrangea that I bought 3 years ago and planted here (because other, better places in my yard resulted in bigleaf hydrangeas dying).

She has turned into a monster who grows bigger every year.

I chopped her down last fall to just a bundle of twigs because her blooms were so big and heavy that her branches were bending beneath their weight. (I also dried a ton of her blooms and they’re now in my house, in vases and arrangements I made.)

Still, she thrives.

I fear I must transplant her elsewhere this fall.

I fear I will kill her.

I fear I underestimate her ability to survive.

Inspiration for a summer front yard garden path that is medium-sized, traditional, drought-tolerant, and in full sun.

Example of a mid-sized classic backyard concrete paver and rectangular pool house design

Here is an illustration of a sizable, modern, drought-tolerant, full-sun front yard gravel landscaping.