Hi Fraussie, the garden is lovely, the hortensias look to me like our Hydrangeas, which are different colours depending on the soil. You can water the common one with tea and it changes the colour, but now we can buy special ones that won’t change colour. They grow much, much better in Toowoomba, than Brisbane.
I love hollyhocks but can’t get them to grow in Brisbane, I’m hoping for lots of different daisey’s this spring, they are much more heat and dry condition tolerant, although this year we have had more rain than usual. Lyn
Fraussie
July 26th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
Yes, they’re hydrangeas of course and not hortensias! In French, “hydrangée” usually designates the Hydrangea petiolaris or climbing hydrangea, which has small white flowers, and I tend to mix up the words. I was told about another way to make the flowers change colour – broken slate – and someone else suggested tea leaves. We can get the slate from a “slate forest” near Angers that I mentioned in another post (http://www.aussieinfrance.com/2011/12/a-barge-on-a-cycle-path-in-the-loire-valley) and the tea leaves are easy! I’ve only ever seen hollyhocks in the northern part of France and in England, so I guess they don’t like the heat. I hope your daisies work. We have tiny wild daisies in the garden of the little house.
Butcherbird
July 26th, 2012 at 12:43 am
I always love your blogs . Not only are they so enjoyable & informative to read, I like to relax and look at the great photos as well.
Lovely to read whilst I’m sitting on my front deck lapping up the sun in winter in the tropics!
Fraussie
July 26th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
I’m glad you like them, Butcherbird! Enjoy the tropical winter.
Bonny
July 26th, 2012 at 5:45 am
I love your garden too, Fraussie. It really is delightful. I think the hydrangeas are particularly impressive. My neighbour has a small pink hydrangea growing in a pot which has just finished flowering – not bad for the tropics! I don’t have much luck with my gardening efforts. My basil has just died! (poison spray on the wind?) and some pest is eating all the new shoots on my parsley, while it is a race between me and the possums when the paw paws begin to ripen. C’est la vie!
Fraussie
July 26th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
I was stunned when I saw the hydrangeas too. I have never been very successful with basil either. I think the secret is always to grow things that do well locally. I can remember Mum trying to (unsuccessfully) grow strawberries. In the garden of the little house, we have wild strawberries but something is eating them before they ripen. My raspberries haven’t give much fruit yet but they should do better next year. I hope so because I love them!
[…] to think about what he’s doing to my eye so I try and make a list of all the different flowers in our garden in Blois. When I’ve finished, I imagine myself in front of our Renaissance fireplace with Jean Michel, […]
Hi Fraussie, the garden is lovely, the hortensias look to me like our Hydrangeas, which are different colours depending on the soil. You can water the common one with tea and it changes the colour, but now we can buy special ones that won’t change colour. They grow much, much better in Toowoomba, than Brisbane.
I love hollyhocks but can’t get them to grow in Brisbane, I’m hoping for lots of different daisey’s this spring, they are much more heat and dry condition tolerant, although this year we have had more rain than usual. Lyn
Yes, they’re hydrangeas of course and not hortensias! In French, “hydrangée” usually designates the Hydrangea petiolaris or climbing hydrangea, which has small white flowers, and I tend to mix up the words. I was told about another way to make the flowers change colour – broken slate – and someone else suggested tea leaves. We can get the slate from a “slate forest” near Angers that I mentioned in another post (http://www.aussieinfrance.com/2011/12/a-barge-on-a-cycle-path-in-the-loire-valley) and the tea leaves are easy! I’ve only ever seen hollyhocks in the northern part of France and in England, so I guess they don’t like the heat. I hope your daisies work. We have tiny wild daisies in the garden of the little house.
I always love your blogs . Not only are they so enjoyable & informative to read, I like to relax and look at the great photos as well.
Lovely to read whilst I’m sitting on my front deck lapping up the sun in winter in the tropics!
I’m glad you like them, Butcherbird! Enjoy the tropical winter.
I love your garden too, Fraussie. It really is delightful. I think the hydrangeas are particularly impressive. My neighbour has a small pink hydrangea growing in a pot which has just finished flowering – not bad for the tropics! I don’t have much luck with my gardening efforts. My basil has just died! (poison spray on the wind?) and some pest is eating all the new shoots on my parsley, while it is a race between me and the possums when the paw paws begin to ripen. C’est la vie!
I was stunned when I saw the hydrangeas too. I have never been very successful with basil either. I think the secret is always to grow things that do well locally. I can remember Mum trying to (unsuccessfully) grow strawberries. In the garden of the little house, we have wild strawberries but something is eating them before they ripen. My raspberries haven’t give much fruit yet but they should do better next year. I hope so because I love them!
[…] to think about what he’s doing to my eye so I try and make a list of all the different flowers in our garden in Blois. When I’ve finished, I imagine myself in front of our Renaissance fireplace with Jean Michel, […]
[…] and see that Jean Michel’s idea isn’t so bad after all. We’ll lose a boxwood bush and a small althea but the new roof is actually quite […]