Fifty Shades of Green in Budleigh

Beautiful yard in Budleigh.

There are many beautifully landscaped yards in our Budleigh neighborhood that I enjoy when I'm out walking Maggie.  We don't have an official Yard of the Month, but I'm personally choosing my "Yard of the Month" and it's a beauty over on Chester Road.  It is truly breathtaking. 

Hydrangeas and roses.

The bank of blue hydrangeas are just a little past their peak, but still quite nice.

A carpet of green.

Between and around the islands of shrubs and flowering plants is a carpet of grass.  And the white daises among the blue hydrangeas and red of the Japanese maple make for a nice color palette. 

Daisies, hydrangeas and Japanese maple.

Many shades of green.

There are many (okay maybe there aren't fifty) shades of green in the shrubbery from dark forest green to a light lime green. 

My selection for "Yard of the Month" in our neighborhood.

I'm heading out right now for a walk that will take me around the corner to Chester Road where I will once again enjoy this lovely landscape.

Hydrangeas in the Neighborhood

Lovely hydrangeas blooming in the neighborhood.

Hydrangeas are at their peak in our neighborhood now, but for some reason our blue hydrangeas haven't bloomed this year.  Perhaps I pruned them last year too late after they had already set flower buds.  But our lacecap hydrangea is lovely. There are two flower arrangements in hydrangeas.  Lacecap flowers bear round, flat flowerheads with a center core of  small, fertile flowers surrounded by an outer ring of showy, sterile flowers.

Lacecap flower arrangement.

Our lacecap hydrangea is full of flowers.

 By contrast, mophead flowers are large round flowerheads resembling pom-poms.

Mophead or pom-pom arrangement of flowers.

For blue hydrangeas, aluminum must be present in the soil.  You can add aluminum sulfate to the soil to increase the intensity of the blue color.  Pink hydrangeas must be prevented from absorbing the aluminum in the soil.  If you add lime to the soil the pH will be increased and it is more difficult for the plant to absorb aluminum and thus it remains pink.

Blue hydrangeas provide a beautiful accent in our neighbor's landscaping.