Hydrangeas aka Lair of Unruly Sticks.

R20 - day two

Growing up, we had tons and tons of these gorgeous hydrangeas. There were blues, purples and sometimes you would see ones that had a mixture of both. Truly, an amazing display of God's handiwork. I told myself that when David and I bought our first home, I would get me some of those gorgeous hydrangeas. ☺ Little did I know the science behind those gorgeous shades of blue and purple.

Here we are, nine years later. This is what I have...

Ok, ok. They are coming out of winter hibernation, but still, you can see their unruliness.  

For years and years, I have tried to add pH to their soil to give them that beautiful shade of blue. Instead, I get a pale pink and a pistachio green. Don't get me wrong, those are pretty shades, but they don't live up to the beautiful blue I had wanted. You can see them here, their attacking skills and our two beauties on their first day of school. ☺

I just gave up and just let them take over the little spot they inhabit. I will prune and clip {at the wrong time, ugh} every couple of years when they grow to enormous proportions and visitors get attacked while walking up to the front door. These new growths are saying, "Help, help! I'm being repressed."

I noticed this spring that several of the bushes in other people's yard were pruned and tidied. I thought, Hmmm. Why not give it another shot? So, today with renewed vigor I set to work. They were a mess! I fought bugs, worms, stinky dirt, old dried up leaves and rocks. I really dislike rocks.  

Isn't this so cool? I know, random. ☺

I worked so hard, I worked my fingers to the bone. Heehee. I guess it is time to get some new gloves! ☺

It took over two hours to tame these beasts. Do you notice the garbage can in the previous picture...FULL! I feel a great sense of satisfaction with how they turned out. I really hope that I didn't kill them.

In all of my attacking pruning and tiding, I had to cut some of the growths that had already sprouted. It killed me to do this, but I can't have some wonky stems still remaining. ☺ Looking forward to see what happens with these growths. At least for now, they look really cool on my counter.

While I was tackling the Lair of Unruly Sticks, the girls had fun playing and exploring. They were rock hunters on a search for the next, "most amazing rock".☺ Big Sis hit the jackpot. She found the "most amazing rock", a geode to be exact. She was very proud of her find. It is now stored away in one of her special collection boxes. ☺ 

It tickled me to look at both of their piles. Big Sis's pile is meticulous and precise, all of her rocks are of  similar color and size. Little Cute on the other hand "just grabbed whatever" as Big Sis put it. ☺ Oh, how I love them.