Hydrangea Envy

I think I have admitted this before on this blog... I am not a gardener.  I live in the South, where gardens are serious business.  Patios lush with planters.  Gardens that are planned to have color most of the year. Fountains, ornaments, leafy things that crawl and climb.  Every Spring I swear I'll plant forsythia for its early riot of color.  Then I see someone's gorgeous tulips and I think, next Fall, I am planting bulbs.  And I always promise myself that I will properly prune my rosebush.


Instead, let's just say, my yard has a "natural" look.  In the shady back there are loads of fern and rhododendron that grow in natural areas.  Lots of trees and shrubs that don't require much attention.  But the other day, out on a walk, I came across yard and after yard of unbelievable hydrangeas.  These big fluffy balls of blue and lavender blooms are almost laughable in their abundance.  The color is so saturated that it looks as though someone turned up the color volume with Photoshop.  I had to stop in my tracks and face the facts - I had hydrangea envy.


I am usually pretty good about simply enjoying the fruits of my neighbors' labors in their gardens.  But at this moment I was plotting.  Could I get away with cutting some of these amazing bon-bons of flowers without my neighbor noticing?  Could I actually ask for some cuttings, or does that violate some kind of gardening creed to which I was oblivious?   I just had to have these gorgeous, over the top beauties.

So far I haven't done anything illegal.  No midnight excursions with pruning shears.  I still hold my breath when I walk by and wonder, how something so beautiful could bring me so close to the brink of criminal acts.  Instead, I have decided to enjoy the bounty and pretend my property line extends across the street!