hydrangea rescue!

It is still too hot to do much, though I did get up early and spend about 2 hours in the yard this morning watering and doing a bit of weeding and other chores. I think my impatiens might make it if the weather continues to cool down like it is supposed to (only supposed to be in the mid 80s next weekend).

I met Bobbie for breakfast at Staxs and after that went out to do some errands. I headed over to Lowes to see if they had any pots on sale or any good plants. I found two little 1 gallon variegated hydrangeas that looked a bit worse for the wear. I decided that I couldn't leave them to their fate (they felt quite dry) so I decided to get both of them and see if I can nurse them back to health. When I was checking out I asked if I could get a discout (they were marked $6.98) since they looked so bad and they marked them down to $3 each. So, I got two for less than one would normally cost.

They have now been very thorougly watered and have been placed in my "nursery" next to the side steps, where they will be in almost total shade. I have hoping with some TLC and lots of water they will be ready to go in the ground in a few weeks.

The patients:


Close-up of the leaves. Apparently the variegated hydrangeas aren't the biggest bloomers and are grown mostly for their leaves. The tag claims these plants can grow to 6' X 6', and even a decent sized shrub with the pretty variegated leaves would be neat looking in the border.