Happy August Everyone!
I’m joining my Monday Morning Blooms’ friends and sharing some flower therapy today.
You can find my flower friends’ links and blooming inspiration at the bottom of this post.
Our common theme for this week’s edition of Monday Morning Blooms was ‘white flowers’. . .
Hello Limelight Hydrangeas, I’m so happy to see you again!
Limelight Hydrangeas bloom around mid July in our zone 7b garden,
when everything else is in the garden is tired and spent. . .
just like me after lugging my hose around in 90+ degree temps. :)
‘Limelight’ is a Hydrangea paniculata with panicle-shaped flower heads that grow 6 to 12 inches long.
Unlike other hydrangea varieties, they are drought tolerant, preferring part to full sun.
If you’re looking for an easy to grow, low maintenance shrub in your garden
that will provide you with both beautiful cut and dried flowers,
read -> How to Grow Limelight Hydrangeas.
Limelight Hydrangeas make ‘pitcher perfect’ blooms,
no flower arranging skills required,
just cut and place in the pitcher or vase of your choice.
Unlike Hydrangea macrophylla, commonly known as bigleaf hydrangea,
Limelight Hydrangeas aren’t prone to wilting when cut and live a long vase life without much fuss.
Here are few tips to help extend the life of your cut flowers:
Cut your Limelight Hydrangeas in the early morning, when flowers are fully hydrated and not stressed from the heat.
Give your flower stems a cut at a 45 degree angle for maximum water uptake and remove any leaves below the water line.
Add floral preservative packets to your vase water.
If you don’t have any floral preservative, you can make your own with this easy formula.
Check your water level frequently, especially after the first day, and top it off if necessary.
Daily stem trims (or as often as you can remember) ensure your stems can get a fresh drink as they age and will help extend their vase life.
Change the vase water daily or as often as you can possibly remember. Water changes reduce bacterial growth which will help you to get the best bloom life from your flowers.
A new-to-me vintage pitcher, Maltese Blue by Wedgwood,
was a favorite antique mall find a few months ago.
I loved the pretty blue and white floral details.
Confession time: I’m not a fan of summer and counting down the days until fall.
It was oppressively hot this week with the heat index in the triple digits.
Just the thought of a month or more of 90+ degree days makes me blue
and ready to head to the High Country until October!
This post contains affiliate links. For more information see my disclosure policy.
But I’m embracing the August Blues with a table on the dock by the lake
and ready to jump in the water. . .
A blue floral tablecloth mimics transferware patterns at the table.
Johnson Brothers Devon Cottage plates provide more blue and white floral details,
along with blue and white napkins. . .
A vintage blue transferware sugar bowl provides a vase for additional hydrangea blooms.
And an Alfred Meakin England Royal Denstone platter
provides sprays of blue and white blooms. . .
I’m a fan of mixing and matching and Wallace Hotel flatware features five assorted reproduction designs:
An Impero dinner fork, Coburg salad fork, William and Mary dinner knife,
Federalist dinner spoon and Barocco teaspoon.
Visit my blogging friends to see their beautiful floral inspiration this week:
Pam at Everyday Living
Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse
Shirley at Housepitality Designs
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Thank you for your visit, sharing with:
Between Naps on the Porch
What a beautiful setting right by the water!! I know how much work that is – thanks for letting us enjoy your gorgeous flowers and tabletop.
Thank you Merrie! It’s a labor of love, but labor for sure when it’s 90+ degrees. :) Happy August ♥
Good Monday Morning Mary! What a way start off the week with gorgeous Limelight Hydrangeas and Blue and White! My all time favorites. I have Limelight Hydrangea envy when I see yours and Pam’s gorgeous mature shrubs. Mine is small; however, very showy and hesitate to cut blooms. Your new to you Maltese Blue Wedgwood pitcher is stunning. That antique mall has been on my travel list for some time now…need to make it a goal to visit soon. What a vision the ‘perfect pitcher” of limelights and the beautifully curated table of blue and white with the lake in the background is perfection. Hope the temps drop for you soon, as sitting by your lake has to be such a soothing experience. Happy to bloom with you today Mary…you definitely always bloom where you stand!
Thank you Shirley! You’ll have an abundance of blooms in a couple of years! It’s always a treat to join for some flower therapy on these Mondays. Happy August. ♥
Mary, I can imagine sitting by the lake with a tall glass of sweet tea. It may have been steamy, but your August blues and limelights look perfectly fresh! The new to you Wedgwood pitcher is quite lovely filled with limelights. I just love paniculatas. Their big showy blooms make an amazing summer splash when everything else is wilting. I am a big fan of blue and white and mix and match…your table hits all the high notes. We are expecting lower temperatures this week, hopefully you will cool off. It is always a treat to share Monday Morning Blooms with you!♥️
Thank you Pam! Yes we’re looking at some welcome rain tomorrow followed by a cool down. Thank you for sharing your beautiful garden blooms and flower therapy today. ♥
Those limelight hydrangea are show stoppers for sure! They are loaded. I was so happy to have 5 blossoms on my plant, haha. Beautiful setting of blue and white by the water, so refreshing! Sorry you are suffering with the heat and about ready for fall. I am still enjoying our summers and holding on to them as they take so long to get here and are short in comparison to yours. Thank you for all your effort Mary, a lovely setting by the lake, ( sigh).
Just viewing the lovely white floral arrangements brought a peaceful feeling and thoughts of cooler temperatures.
Thank you Ann, Happy August! ♥
Wow, Mary, those images have an immediate cooling effect! Such beautiful combinations of blue & white with your new and vintage wares (the pitcher is a wonderful find!), and the apparent blue of the lake. And whoever developed that variety of hydrangea should be hailed with the highest award of horticulture. It is truly a show-stopping, just what we needed bloom for this part of summer (and more!) Seriously, if they could just manage some blue ones, I would’ve jumped at the chance to replace all my former, old-wood bloom variety. I’m with you, an eye toward fall, but until then, Happy August!
Thank you Rita! I agree, I can’t say enough good things about Limelight Hydrangeas, the saving grace of the mid to late summer garden. Hope your antiquing has yielded you some treasures and happy sales this summer. ♥
Mary, Your MMB arrangement is beautiful! Your tablescape lakeside is gorgeous. Your new pitcher is lovely. The blue and white color scheme is perfect for showcasing your healthy, lush limelights. Your table linens, as always, are a favorite. I know how oppressive the heat is in your area and your hard work for us to enjoy is much appreciated! I’m ready for fall! All the stores have such wonderful fall merchandise. HomeGoods has swoon worthy throw pillows! Enjoy your week! Clara ❤️
Happy August Clara! Thank you for your visits and sweet comment as always. I was in HomeGoods last week and saw all those tempting pillows. :) Hope you had fun shopping, Stay cool. ♥
Love the white blooms and it makes a serene tablescape so inviting. Now I want to shop for antique treasures.
Thank you Donna, Happy August! ♥
Blue and white is the perfect color palette for keeping cool Mary, but all I could think of while reading your post was how hot you must have been setting that table!! The hydrangeas are gorgeous in your new to you pitcher, and the blue stemware is so pretty. We’re supposed to have cooler temps this week, I hope you do too!
Jenna
Thank you Jenna, Yes it was pore-cleansing setting up that table. :) We are cooler today by 10 degrees, which I’ll take! ♥
EnJOYED “every one of the garden tours!!” Great fun, all!!!! franki
Thank you Franki, stay cool! ♥
Very pretty, it may be scorching but your photo conveys sooth and cooling mornings with the crisp blue and white. With you on the anti heat crowd, except we were 100 in may and only a ten degree variant up and down since then, its relentless, I fear fall and winter could be the same 😱 our high country lost cool months ago 😭 so let me admire your lake and drift off in my imaginary chill…
Ps did buy my first limelight from your many recommendations, our dry heat may not end up with your same results, time will tell!
Thank you! I don’t know how you have survived that heat. I know your Limelights will thrive with your green thumb. ♥
Mary, Your setting both on the table and where it is located are so beautiful. Makes me plan to go out this morning and cut some of my limelights. They have held up in the heat and this morning after some rain yesterday it is finally cooler. Hope you got the rain. This week promises more so my housework can wait till tommorow and I will get out in the garden.A cooler day in August in N.C is never to be wasted!! Enjoy.
Thank you Kathy! The rain missed us (which we could use) but it is 10 degrees cooler today which is appreciated. Happy August and Gardening to you . ♥
Love your table setting. Where did you get the chargers? Just gorgeous!
Thank you! They came from Pier 1, several years ago. :)
So I don’t need to add water if I pick them now? I always thought that if I didn’t wait for them to start drying some they would wilt. Ok!! Love your table and dishes. If you get tired of that pitcher please send it my way!
Hi Nancy, You DO need to add water to your vase for your hydrangeas! Give them some flower food too (those packets that come from the grocery store) or make your own to prolong their life. Once they reach the ‘papery’ stage and turn greenish-brown, you can cut them to dry, no water needed. Thank you for your visit!
Mary, what a place to sit at your beautiful table! It’s almost hard to believe it’s so hot looking at your gorgeous photos, it seems cool. Like you, August is the month I get anxious for fall. But you make summer look so good. Those limelights- glorious! I’m going to see if they do well here in California. It’s a joy to join you on our Monday Morning Blooms, dear friend. Xo Lidy
Hi Lidy, Yes looks can be deceiving. :) I envy your humidity-free CA weather! Enjoy your visit with your ‘littles’. Happy August ♥
Mary, I know it has been and is extremely hot these days. I live near Salisbury(actually China Grove, if you are familiar with this area), but your beautiful table setting with the limelights against the water is so refreshing. My neighbor just planted these all along her side yard and they are gorgeous. I wasn’t familiar with this type of hydrangea but now can’t wait to add some to our yard as well, especially since they are drought tolerant. I too am tired of dragging a hose. Thank you for you cooling Monday post.
Judy
Thank you Judy! Yes, I’m familiar with the area and used to have family in Concord area. I think you’ll be happy to have these blooming in your yard (or your neighbors :). If you don’t have room for Limelights, Little Lime Hydrangeas are smaller cousins and preform beautifully too. Stay cool ♥
About a 10 hour drive one way to shop at the antique mall by you, not a problem. Plenty of A/C in the car.
Love that blue and white.
That made me chuckle Jennifer! If you do get down this way, it’s worth a stop. Thank you for your visit. ♥
Your limelights are so pretty on your table with all the blue and white. Beautiful table and post!
Thank you Ricki Jill! Hope you’re staying cool. ♥
I am absolutely not a fan of summer, either, Mary! Ours drags on waaaaay too long. Your hydrangeas looks so pretty with the blue and white and against the water as a backdrop. Love your new pitcher and your pretty sugar bowl. I’m hoping for some rain!
hi ~Mary ~
very Pretty as always!! I have planted so many Hydrangeas , I can’t remember which is which!?!! the Limelights are like a tree?! which I believe is correct., I was watching a gardener and he planted 18 in roll for a privacy hedge!
Loving your blue&white !!
Stay cool , Fall will be here before we know it, but I am still refusing to shop Fall yet, time goes to fast !!haha :)
Kind Regards,
Paula
IN
My neighbors planted these Mary, every time I walk out the door I picture your dog’s heads:@)
Such a lovely setting at the water! Your new pitcher is lovely. But I am enjoying the blue and white with your hydrangeas!
Hope cooler weather is coming your way!
Happy August!
I love NC. My husband grew up there and does not like it because of the racism he felt as a boy. My daughter lives i Chapel Hill and lived in Durham before that. I wish I culd live on Lake Norman and and am envious of you. I have a friend that lives in Advance, another lovely place. Your posts inspire me with their beauty and I love the dogs.
I love this table setting! May I ask where you purchased your blue napkins?
Thank you! I found them at HomeGoods a couple of years ago. :)
Thank you, Mary! :)
What a pretty & “refreshing” table! The backdrop is calling me as we are experiencing record-breaking heat in northern IL—but alas, a wonderful cool front is coming Saturday!
Beautiful table Mary – you would never know how hot it was from the pictures. It all looks very cool and refreshing by the lake. The Limelights are gorgeous and the blue and white themed table is perfect with them. Love all your vintage finds. Stay cool down there!