Katy's Garden

Hydrangea quercifolia is a monster of a plant which grew from a tiny potted specimen to a 1,50 m plant in two years. It is stunning in a garden, but seen up close it does not hold a candle to its cultivar "Snowflake":



It's not only that the single florets are double, and more than double, suffused with lime green and maturing to rosy purple. These florets last a long time, as do the autumn colouring of the leaves, while the species quercifolia tends to drop its fiery autumn plumage rather fast. They are both worth growing though, and more than worth, as is "Snow Queen", that has single florets but very elongated and upright panicles.

The sunflowers "Moulin Rouge" are blooming What a glorious colour! The richest shade of dark red, bordering on maroon and even black, but with a warmth and a depth to it such I have rarely seen. It is incredible to find such a dark, deep, gory sahde in a sunflower, which is generally associated with the most solar shades of yellow and orange. A black sun burst... what a subject for a gothic garden.