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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

Hydrangeas Filled Copper Pot

Sunday, July 21, 2013

My mother grows hydrangeas by the bushels, 
from branches she bent over and buried in dirt,
then transplanted. 
Blue ones, pink ones, magenta ones, white ones, green ones, 
all down the north side of the attached garage, 
around the corner and along the east side of the house, 
and all across the back of the detached garage. 

Hydrangeas
everywhere. 


Antique copper pot filled with huge blue hydrangeas

My favorite... you guessed it... blue...
This may be my favorite flower...seriously.

I did not get the hydrangea-growing gene. 
I've killed too many plants to count.
Sigh...





Multiple shades of blue and green hydrangeas

These beautiful huge blooms are from my mom's house.  
My sister brought them home with us this week from Mother's garden. 




Antique copper pot with lid is perfect for hydrangeas in summer and firewood in winter

They are nestled in my latest find, a lidded copper tub, 
found at a very rustic antique store 
owned and operated by a high-school friend, Chipper. 
Whenever I visit Mother, I try to make at least one trip to 
Chipper's store to see his latest inventory. 




Antique store is filled with items found in garage sales and estate sales
Chipper in blue shirt with my sister in striped shirt

Last Saturday when we pulled into the store's drive, 
Chipper was sitting on the front porch polishing the copper tub. 
We were headed back to Mother's 
after a family reunion picnic at the lake. 

My sister was driving, 
and we both spotted the tub before the car came to a stop. 
 Two or three sentences later with offers and counteroffers, 
the copper tub was mine! 
Cobwebs and dead leaves all....inside.
 Chipper had only gotten the outside cleaned. 
We arrived in the nick of time before anyone else saw this beauty. 




Antique copper pot with lid is not in perfect condition, but still perfect for firewood

The tub is not in perfect shape. 
There is a hole on the lid's right side above, 
the lid's handle looks like it has been mended, and 
the bottom probably is not water tight. 

But, look at the size...perfect for holding firewood this winter. 




Blue hydrangeas fill an antique copper pot

I love the wooden handles on either end of the tub, 
and the hydrangeas are beautiful in it. 




Blue and green hydrangeas fill an antique copper pot

Chipper bought the tub at an estate sale. 




Antique copper pot is filled to overflowing with blue and green hydrangeas

I wonder if the original owner displayed hydrangeas in it or 
stored firewood in it near the fireplace. 




Wood handles on antique copper pot contrast with beautiful blue hydrangeas

The hydrangeas survived the plane ride very nicely. 

The copper pot stayed at Mother's until our next trip by car. 





Blue hydrangeas fade to green as the blossoms age

You know, I think it's time I tried again to grow hydrangeas. 
Maybe, just maybe, 
I did inherit the hydrangea-growing gene, and 
it is just latent. 

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