HYDRANGEA BONANZA

“Oh! Sweet Mop Head that bobs and sways,

Holding court in the garden for long warm days.”

I look for joy everywhere these days.

It’s certainly not on the nightly news, what with an assassination attempt, ongoing excoriating political rhetoric, and a President whose health and mind show daily signs of slippage. Plus, it’s been sticky and steamy here in Maine: 91 degrees the other afternoon in the Wells woods. That thwarts any interest or energy I might have in going to my backyard container garden to pinch the tomatoes or prop up the peppers. Even kitty-cat Sunshine is bivouacking in the cool basement. 

Then I look at my hydrangeas.  Wow-zah! It’s a bonanza summer for these vibrant blue mopheads. Talk about showy! Talk about strutting their stuff! “This is by far the best crop of the last 20 years,” states Lorraine Balloto, the resident hydrangea expert at the New York Botanical Garden. Why? It’s apparently due to months of even Spring temperatures, heavy rainfall and a  mild winter. Up and down the East Coast, hydrangeas are blossoming like they haven’t in decades.

There are more than 75 varieties of hydrangeas native to Asia and the Americas and they share commonalities. The word “hydrangea” derives from the French form of the Latin name Hortensia, which itself comes from the word “hortus,” meaning “garden." The spectrum of meanings include abundance, heartfelt emotion, gratitude and boastfulness. Each interpretation is rooted in cultural history, beliefs and narratives. 

A Japanese myth tells the tale of an emperor who loved a woman but realized he had made her angry and upset because his busy schedule precluded having afternoon tea with her. So he presented her with a bountiful bouquet of blue hydrangeas as a symbol of his deep emotions, and happiness reigned.

During the Victorian era, suitors were known to give white hydrangeas to women they’d fallen out of love with. As a result, a superstition grew suggesting that women who planted white hydrangeas were unlikely to marry. That superstition spread. Soon, gardeners were reluctant to plant hydrangeas near the front door “for fear their children would never marry.”

Most gardeners, however, believe that hydrangeas symbolize happiness, gratitude and luck. Deep purple hydrangeas are thought to be extra-lucky, promoting wealth, abundance and prosperity.

I stumbled on German poet Joseph G. Schelling’s Ode to Hydrangeas, and concur with the sentiment.

OAK-LEAF HYDRANGEA

Oak-leaf hydrangea blooms,

Have a sweetness that’s profound.

When the wind takes the sweetness,

The bees come from all around.

They are perennial plants,

Growing well under the trees.

They have a scent that’s fragrant,

With it noses they can seize.

They like it in full sun,

And can bloom there well also.

The oak-leaf hydrangea,

In tree shade and sun both grow.

Oak-leaf hydrangea blooms

Excel the man-made perfumes!

For me, hydrangeas are the queens of my garden — perfection on the bush, even better in a Delft blue vase on the coffee table in the living room. Plus they make me happy.