Do I … or don’t I ?

I have three very old … really very old … hydrangeas. They are part of the first batch of plants I planted in our garden 29 years ago!!!!

They have been magnificent every single year!! Sometimes I get huge blooms that cover the bushes .. which grow taller than me (and I am average height) … and sometimes I get bushes that have less flowers but still with the most gorgeous colours from shades of blues to purples – depends on the hot or not-so-hot summers. I used to feed them on tea leaves .. and still do … but now it’s tea from tea bags … but in the ‘old days’ I used to get Tanganda Tea from Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and the dregs of each pot of tea used to be swirled and tipped onto the soil …

Every year, the old ‘trunks’ get more and more gnarled. I break off the really, really dead wooded ones and trim the bushes religiously hoping for a great show in summer. I am never disappointed! In the photo below there is a small hydrangea in the background which was grown from a cutting from this ‘old lady’ ….

Is it time to say goodbye to my three faithful ‘old ladies’ which sit year after year in a quiet shady corner .. which burst into new life when spring comes …?

I have taken some cuttings again .. but they take so long to grow into the magnificent bushes I have now. Do you I pop along to the nursery and buy new ones? Will I get those beautiful shades of blues/purples again?

I don’t think so … the secret was in the tea!