Roses and hydrangeas

The Paradise roses are in bloom again.  So I have been collecting the few roses those bushes have been gifting me with, and making bouquets with them... 

For some strange reasons, roses do not bloom here as profusely as they did at the house in the roses... It must be because inside of me I'm harvesting some very gloomy feelings lately... and Nature has a way of reading our heart.  The universe is our silent partner, and it does exactly what we ask, even if we don't know it... and maybe... maybe I have stopped asking?  Or is it perhaps that roses know that I'm displeased with the way things evolve here, and I'm not coming out to see them as often as I should, or that I'm not pruning, or fertilizing or watering them as often as they need, and my heart is a little nest of worries these days... I'm keeping there feelings that are draining my joy, and I should say to those awful feelings "Out!... I don't want you in my little heart-house!"

The hydrangeas I picked the other day have dried, and I'm keeping their blooms, along with some old roses...

I love hydrangeas, and I'm so fortunate that they grow so well here.  Life is a give and take, doesn't it?  We couldn't grow hydrangeas in my northern garden, but I had beautiful lilacs then.  Now, I have the hydrangeas I always dreamt of, but I miss my beautiful cold weather scented lilacs...  

If you like hydrangeas and want to dry them, this is what you'd do:  Clip the flowers that have been on the bush for a while...  I've found out that if you pick young or freshly bloomed rosettes, they won't dried as well as if you leave them be on the bush for a while... leave them, and you'll have more time to enjoy them both ways.  When they're ready to be clipped, remove the leaves from the stems and put them in water.  That’s it.  If you try to dry a hydrangea without leaving the stems in water, it won't look that plump, and the colors won't be as deep.  However, if you simply put the stems in water and let the stems slowly suck up the water, it will look like this when it’s done drying.

I'm learning to follow this amazing, powerful rule, and keeping it alive in my heart...

See you soon my friends!