Think pink! – part two
I’m back as promised! What could be pinker than a rose? The change in weather made the Zéphirine Drouhin (a bourbon rose) bloom again. She does it in flushes during the season, she is thornless and vigorous and the scent is fantastic (or terrific, as somebody would say).
rosa 'Zéphirine Drouhin'
Buds and new foliage are very nice colored too
I see pink in a supposed to be pale yellow salvia too. Maybe it’s the grey light we have in latter days… You judge:
Salvia 'Navajo'
‘Navajo’ is a very reliable salvia, long flowering and fully hardy if kept in well drained soil. I have it on the boundary area between the grasses garden and the gravel yard. Actually that is an area fully stolen to the gravel yard, so the soil is 80% gravel. Perfect for salvias and stipas.
Talking about gravel… I have this nice alcea (even if it looks closer to a lavatera) that I planted a couple of months ago in the future gravel garden. Very nice apricot tinge, I dared to put it next to a red rosa chinensis ‘Sanguinea’ which is still very small but the colors might work together.
Alcea 'Parkfrieden'
Moving towards the cherry trees I have my little hydrangea collection with lots of pinks (you need acidic soil to turn them blue).
A pink persicaria with hydrangea paniculata 'Vanilla et Fraise'
Meanwhile the a hydrangea paniculata ‘Vanilla et Fraise’ started turning more ‘fraise’ than ‘vanilla’.
Dried flowers resist all winter on the plant. This green fly seems to appreciate them. It’s supposed to be a fungus that forms all those pinkish red spots on hydrangea flowers.
Just a while ago I’ve planted underneath the cherry trees a couple of plants of another hydrangea paniculata: ‘Pinky Winky’ flowers are less crowded here and they will last shorter.
Hydrangea paniculata 'Pinky Winky'
Not so far I have this small ‘Preziosa’ which flourish light pink and then turn pinkish brown. It’s really an hydrangea I wouldn’t give up.
Hydrangea serrata 'Preziosa' next to hosta 'Sum and Substance'
Another nice one is the lacecap ‘Rotschwanz’ (it’s the german for redbreast). They had this time in Germany when all the new macrophylla selections were named after birds…
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Rotschwanz'
Anyway I think that ‘Nigra’ is really one of the most particular hydrangeas. It could be pink as well as blue (depending on soil) and all new stems are very dark browny black. I think you could use dried foliage to make a tea but I’m not sure which variety is the best (or the only actually…). I drank hydrangea tea a few years ago during a visit at the hydrangeas garden at Villa Serra in Genova. Very interesting garden and Tudor style villa. The tea sucks anyway.
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Nigra' next to carex muskingumensis (aka carex tongue-twister)
I’m finished with pinks at the moment. I have quite a little of them considering it’s not really my favorite color…
AltroVerde 
I love your garden and your planting combinations. I think it is so great that we can find such kindred out in the stratosphere. Christina
Well isn’t this what it’s all about? Thank God we’re not alone out there! 🙂
Beautiful bloom on Zephirine! Mine is about to bloom too. Unlike yours, mine blooms well in spring, and sporadically in summer, and not at all in the fall… I love that yellow salvia, if I saw one like that at a nursery I would grab it immediately! You have a beautiful hydrangea collection! I have only two, but love my paniculata… Your garden looks wonderful.
Thanks Masha! I love salvia Navajo too. I’ve never tried to start it from cuttings but I should as it doesn’t seem to be difficult.
Zephirine Drouhin flowers profusely in spring and later it continues in flushes till frost.
Hi Alberto. You remind me that I need to get another Zéphirine Drouhin – mine is over thirty years old and showing her age. I have a cousin called Zéphirine, named after the rose. It’s a good name for a girl I think.
It is a good name. Especially if you think about the Rose. The name should have something to do with the god of the wind in the meaning I think.
Your pinks tend to the very pastel, so pretty, or pastel together with darker… The Salvia ‘Navaho’ I like a lot! You have a lot of color in your garden, and the blooms must contrast well with the grasses. I appreciate the hydrangea tea warning…
Hydrangea tea could toxic when made from the wrong species! Do you think I have too much color in the garden? That worries me especially when the house will be painted red again. I think I will use a dull dark red though…