When the Endless Summer™ hydrangea made its first appearance here in Chicagoland, it created quite a buzz. Everyone rushed out to get this wonder plant, bred in Minnesota for our climate, and spent the summer watching and waiting. Then the next and the next. The “Moonies”, my coffeehouse friends, gifted me with several hydrangea as a housewarming gift when we moved here to the Cutoff. One was Endless Summer, and one was called Blushing Bride.
The plants were tucked safely into the soil and watered with care. We fended off the marauding deer, the frigid midwestern winters they were bred for, and the endless periods without rain. We did this for five years, with each year bringing but three or four blooms.
Folks around these parts started to grumble, as did I, and the Endless Summer was referred to as the Endless Disappointment . . .
. . . until this year.
Maybe the name meant ‘endless patience’. It’s beautiful, very subtle and well rounded. Worth waiting for perhaps?
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I think you are right, Juliet – endless patience! Yes! It was worth the wait.
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Beautiful! I can tell what a good gardener you are, Penny, by the way you remember the name of your plants! I seem to never do that! I love hydrangeas and they always remind me of homes I lived in as a child. My mother always planted them. They do take a bit of water, which I’ve been talking about conserving, but they do so well that they’re hard to pass on. I probably shouldn’t add any more to my landscaping, but I am very sentimental about the couple that I do have. I’m glad your Endless Summer finally came through! It has a really beautiful bloom! Debra
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Oh, Debra, there are plenty of plants in my garden whose names I can’t remember. In fact, I just put in some native prairie plants that were from garden club members and I have no idea what they are called. Hydrangeas do take more water, which is a negative as we try to conserve. They were bred to thrive in northern climates where there is a lot of snowfall, but, and the BUT is big, we haven’t been having the snowfalls we used to. Right now, we are trying to develop a rather large space for natives. Once they are established, they won’t need much watering. I really appreciate how mindful you are of the environment, Debra. Thank you.
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How beautiful! I hope from now on, they bloom every summer for you. I want some, but I don’t know if I would be patient enough to wait so long for blooms.
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Thank you, Janet. If the deer don’t get to them, I think they will. I learned a few tricks while waiting, like cutting them back in the late fall, and that we needed the snow cover we weren’t having. I do think more now about what I plant as I age, except for trees. Trees are now for the next generation. I do envy you your prairie.
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Oh, isn’t that lovely, Penny! Your devotion has been well rewarded. Let’s hope that now it has started flowering it won’t know when to stop. 🙂
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So far, this seems to be the year, Perpetua. This variety is supposed to bloom all summer. We will see, but, I will enjoy the blooms while they are there.
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I am so happy for you to have the joy of seeing this flower. It really was worth the wait, TLC, and deer-proofing. You do take such precise pictures that I recognized the hydrangea as the flower known in the South as a snow-ball. My grandparents grew this as well as gladiolas, jonquils, etc. during the Depression. They sold the flowers to florists. It was how they made their living. Their daughters, my mother and aunt, were college graduates. The family got up early, cut the flowers, put them in buckets, and then the wagon pulled by a mule made the journey to town. My mother always said with a laugh, that she felt like she’d already worked a day before 9 o’clock. Sorry for the looong story! I don’t know of a lot of people today who would like to get to class in a wagon.
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It is a heartfelt and wonderful story of hard work and perseverance, Marilyn. It would have taken all that effort as well as your mother and aunt’s scholarship to become college graduates during the Depression. What strong women they were. Your story reminds me of my mother-in-law’s, who sold strawberries from the family farm in summer to pay for college during the Depression. I’m so happy that you shared this, Marilyn. Thank you.
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In my experience, almost all hydrangeas are like that!! They like to get nestled in their spot before putting on a show… 🙂
I have three Endless Summers, and they are going great guns! This is their fourth year.
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I like the idea of their nestling in, Deborah.
How wonderful! I think mine have turned a corner this year after mulching and watering, watering, watering. Then, of course, there are the deer . . .
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I had two Endless Summer bushes that my deer ate down to the ground!! I was out tonight spraying stinky stuff on the back forty. 🙂
Tomorrow I’m applying vermicompost on my Limelight bushes. They’re all foliage and no blooms….
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Oh, gosh, I am sorry to hear that, Deborah. We’ve experienced the frustration, not to mention cost, of deer decimating a bush. I hope the LImelight makes it. It is a beautiful hydrangea. Keep me posted.
I do have sad deer news. Tom found a dead fawn the other day in our front lawn. We were heartbroken. It was one of a set of twins and must have been ill. It wasn’t a newborn, but still very young, and just didn’t survive. The good news is that its twin has been romping around, we’ve seen it nursing, so the mother is fine, and it actually came to our back door today. So far, it is cute . . .
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Fristrating when plants don’t deliver, Penny….time to find a new wonder plant!
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This one, I think, has finally earned her keep, Kate, though I still may look for a new wonder plant.
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Isn’t it amazing this year. I think it’s because we had such a mild winter. The blooms aren’t quite as big, but there are so many of them.
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Hi, Bev. Nice to see you here. It is an amazing year. The colors on this are breathtaking. You’re right. The blooms aren’t as big, but quite profuse, and I agree that our winter had something to do with it. Whatever, we’ll enjoy.
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Dear Penny, oh those Minnesotans! Having lived there for thirty-five years during long winters and short springs, I suggest as others have that the Endless Summer name comes from Minnesotans longing for such!
Peace.
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I am sure you are right on that, Dee. Those long winters also lead them to develop that wonderful Honeycrisp apple that I delight in eating every fall.
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The Endless Summer bloom looks like it’s blushing! I can just imagine your delight to see them take this year!
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It has continued to be bountiful, Janet. The colors keep changing and more buds emerge. I am enjoying it this year beyond measure.
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