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A climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris) grows in a cool and rather dark spot in our garden. It is beside our main seating area, under a laurel that has grown into a large tree.
The laurel’s shade is a very welcome protection from the hot sun in summertime, both for us and for the hydrangea. Without that bit of shade, the hydrangea would struggle to cope with the way heat can build up here.
The RHS describes this plant as ‘best grown in partial shade in a moist but well-drained soil’. Unfortunately, the soil here is rarely moist in summer. (Winter is a different matter!) This was something I did not realise when I planted it many years ago. Nor did I make much allowance for how dry the tree roots must make the area. Nevertheless, the climber has survived, though growing slowly.
From May to July the hydrangea’s white flowers add a cool note to my favourite place to sit. I get to enjoy their grace and airiness from close quarters. By winter any remaining flowers have turned brown and leathery, but a light dusting of frost makes them graceful again.
You can see the summer flowers of Hydrangea petiolaris in this post.
Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature 
You’re on a roll with those little spikes of frost. Do you have a sense of how long the longest such spike you’ve ever seen is?
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There’s certainly been plenty of frost to photograph this year! The longest spikes of hoar frost were probably those on the elder leaves https://annmackay.blog/2023/01/15/frozen-lace/ which I’m guessing were about 1.5cm. With February nearly here, we may not get much more frost. (One more frosty post to go!)
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I’m rather fond of bush hydrangeas that turn various shades of sepia and brown, but I’ve never seen any with frost on them. This is lovely; the white frost is a reminder of the cooling effect the flowers provide in your garden in the hotter months. i just looked again at your linked white flowers, and remembered how lovely they are.
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We have a single bush hydrangea in the garden but it doesn’t usually hold onto its flowers as long as this climber does. It’s in a more sheltered spot too, so gets less frost. It does sometimes produce skeleton flowers, which would look amazing if they got frosted. Glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
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The frost highlights the leaves’ beautiful shape and colour. Ordinarily, the brown would look drab during this time of the year, but the contrast provided by the crystals illustrate the attractiveness of a brown-white combination.
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Frost is great for making the most ordinary of things look interesting. Without the frost, you’d walk past these without noticing them…the little bit of contrast is just enough to pick them out of the shadows. 🙂
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So true!
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This frosty image caught my attention. I have so many varieties of hydrangea in my garden . I should take images of these .thanks Anita
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That would be well-worth doing! Hydrangeas are very photogenic. 🙂
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Beautiful photos!
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Thank you – glad you enjoyed them!
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