A Recycle-Upcycle Idea and a Limelight Hydrangea Update

Welcome to the 399th Metamorphosis Monday!

If you follow Between Naps on the Porch on Instagram, HERE or have subscribed to Postcards from the Porch, the free BNOTP newsletter, you’ll have seen this photo shared from a recent visit to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Currently they have a delightful Chihuly exhibit in place all throughout the garden and it’s beautiful. Every corner you round reveals a wonderful, enchanting surprise. I will share more of the beautiful sights we saw in the garden during out visit real soon.

I think the exhibit will be in the garden until the end of October. If you live within driving distance of the garden, I truly feel it’s worth a visit. The garden is still lush and green (still in the 80’s here each day) and quite a few plants are still in bloom with others getting ready to bloom. So this is a great time of the year to visit. Just be sure to call or check the Atlanta Botanical Garden website to make sure the Chihuly exhibit is still there before you make the trip, if that’s the main purpose for your visit. I’m pretty sure it’s here until October 30th, but best to double-check that before you make the drive.

earth-goddess-at-atlanta-botanical-garden

 

After our visit to the garden, we were super hungry and ready to find a good spot for dinner. As we were leaving the garden, we got a glimpse of an interesting looking restaurant. It was set way down below the road we were on and feeling adventuresome, we decided to see if we could find it.

We did eventually find it, but we ended up eating in another restaurant that looked even more interesting called, Loca Luna. It was a nice day and not overly hot, so we decided to sit outside under the lights. I bet this is so pretty come nighttime.

loca-luna-atlanta-ga

 

Across on the wall I spotted this and got up to walk over for a closer look.

tires-recycled-into-planters

 

What a cool way to recycle/upcycle old tires! Paint them and turn them into planters! Pretty cool metamorphosis! I wonder what tire companies do with old tires, do they get melted down to make new tires? I hope they don’t all end up in a landfill. I’ve sometimes seen them used to line walkways, a look I don’t especially like. This I like, though!

recycle-tires-into-planters

 

Limelight Hydrangea Update

Recently someone asked about the other Limelight Hydrangea that wasn’t blooming at the time I landscaped the front of my house. You can see that Limelight (purchased last year) on the right side of the house and the one I purchased this year over on the left. The newly purchased hydrangea on the left began blooming pretty early in the summer; it was on a different time/light schedule than the hydrangea on the right.

Boxwood Shrubs, Traditional Landscape

 

The one on the right did bloom and it has been blooming up a storm all summer long. Some of the flowers are just starting to turn brown now, but it has been gorgeous all summer.

limelight-hydrangea-still-blooming-in-late-summer-early-fall

 

This was the photo I shared with you earlier in the summer of the newly purchased Limelight Hydrangea on the left. It was gorgeous!

Limelight Hydrangea, White when first blooms, then goes pale green

 

Here’s how it looks right now. The white blossoms have lasted forever and have turned a beautiful shade of green.

beautiful-limelight-blooms-into-fall

 

Surprisingly, even though the official start of fall is just a few days away, it is STILL creating new blossoms! Do you see the two new white blossoms in the photo below? I am so in love with this plant. It has bloomed almost all summer and here on the cusp of autumn, it’s still giving me new flowers to enjoy.

new-blooms-on-limelight-hydrangea-in-early-fall

 

And look, here’s the start of a brand new flower! Do you see it there on the left in the picture below? Love, love, love this hydrangea!

I’ll have to Google and read up on the proper time to trim off the old blooms. I know hydrangeas create their blooms each year on new growth or at least that’s what the nursery where I purchased the standard hydrangeas on my deck told me when I bought those. So, I’ll Google again to see when I should trim them back some. Ugh, I always hating cutting/trimming anything back, always afraid I’ll do it wrong. Appreciate any helpful tips on trimming them back!

limelight-hydrangea-creating-new-blooms-in-early-fall

 

Looking forward to all the fabulous Before and Afters for this Met Monday!

Metamorphosis Monday

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Comments

  1. Susan, I’m so happy you posted this on the Chihuly exhibit today! We’re heading to Atlanta this week for our family member’s wedding, and definitely plan to take in this exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. I remember checking the run date (you’re right, through Oct 30) when a niece of mine posted her visit. You’re like a tour guide – now I’ll add Loca Luna to the list. 🙂 Thank you for that, as well as hosting Met Monday. Your limelights have done wonderfully in your landscape, even in the heat (still hot here, too). Happy Fall!

    • You are really in for a treat, Rita! You’ll love it! When we arrived at Loca Luna, they weren’t open yet, didn’t open for another hour. They were really nice though and let us in for drinks/chips, etc… until they officially opened for dinner. We loved sitting out on the porch-patio area, weather was perfect for that.

  2. Those tire planters look so pretty! I have seen people who just lay them in their yard an d plant them and to me it looks very tacky. But these are beautiful! Thanks again for hosting. Your limelights are beautiful. I have 4 and they all seem to be on a slighly different schedule….in the same yard:)

    • Really! I wonder if mine will do that next year. They do get slightly differently lighting since one gets the morning sun and the other gets the evening son.

  3. I love the recycled tires! Such a great idea and so cute. The botanical garden looks beautiful! Thank you for once again hosting!

  4. What a pretty upcycle with those tires! Saving that idea for when an old tire crosses my path. 🙂 Have a beautiful week, Susan!

  5. Thanks so much for the party Susan! Your hydrangeas look beautiful! I wait till March to trim off the blooms on mine. Have a great week, Tara

  6. The tires are a really smart and creative idea! The garden looks like a great place to visit. Are you going to dry your hydrangeas and use them indoors?

    • I should probably do that but I hate to cut them. I love seeing them when I’m outside. When you dry them, you’re supposed to cut them before they turn brown, right? lol I cut a few blossoms off last year but wasn’t sure if I was doing it at the right time.

  7. Sherry Moore says

    Will you please let us all know what you find out about trimming the hydrangeas? I have two new ones, and like you, I’m scared to death I’ll do it wrong. They aren’t as pretty as yours, but in this soil on the Niagara Escarpment in Door County, Wisconsin, it is pretty much impossible to grow anything well!

    • Will do, Sherry! I’ll do some reading. Also, some folks have left some very helpful comments on this post, so stop by and check those out if you have a moment.

  8. Whoa…what are you “feeding” those limeys??!!?? SO pretty!! franki

    • Sometimes I sprinkle Osmocote around my potted plants but I didn’t sprinkle any around the new Limelight I bought this summer. I’m sure the grower probably did, though. I don’t remember now if I fertilized the one I bought last year, this year or not. I don’t think I did. They are in really, really good potting soil, though. Thanks, Franki!

  9. Hi Susan! Long time since I’ve been over to join you and your beautiful blog party! Your Hydrangeas are gorgeous! One of my absolute faves, as you will see from my linked up upcycle. 🙂 Thank you so much for hosting your lovely party, I hope all is well with you. Have a wonderful week!
    Theresa

  10. Limelight hydrangeas are from the paniculata family and they bloom on new wood, so they are very forgiving. I cut mine back quite far each fall after flowers have turned brown and that way I can keep them the size I want. They always bloom the next year and they are one of my favorites along with Annabelle hydrangeas which also bloom on new wood. Their bloom are round instead of cone shaped. You can’t go wrong with either of these hydrangeas.

    • I was thinking that they only bloomed on new wood, but it’s so hard for me to cut them back. I never quite know how far back to cut. I will have to watch it with these, since they are in pots, but at least the pots are really big pots. lol
      Annabelles are gorgeous and they can get huge! I’ve seen them on garden tours and they are spectacular. Do they bloom much of summer like these Limelight hydrangeas have done? I can’t get over how long these have been blooming!

      • Yes, Annabelle’s bloom all summer long and I control their height by cutting back since they also bloom on new wood. I have seen them in hedges which I really like. If I knew how to include pictures in a comment, I would send you a picture of some I saw up in Seattle in August that were spectacular. You don’t have to worry about cutting back these hydrangeas at all. They are my best performers, by far.

  11. Bunny Rogers says

    Late fall or early spring for pruning Limelights to make a bushier plant. They bloom on new growth. Some hydrangeas bloom on old growth.

    I was a charter member of ABG and miss it so much. But I did get to see the Chihuly Exhibit the very first year it was there. It is almost worth flying down there from NC for the day! Thanks for the pictures.

  12. Wow! The garden tour looks amazing! I’m still loving your Hydrangea trees. Thank you for hosting, Susan.

  13. Limelights are great because you can trim them in the fall or spring. They bloom on old and new wood. I wanted to reshape mine last year so I cut them back quite a bit last fall. They all came back with plenty of vigor and flowers! I love visiting botanical gardens.

    • That’s so amazing that you can trim them at either time. I think I’ll wait until spring. I’ll just have to make sure to do it before the new growth starts, I guess. Liz, when you cut them, does it matter how you angle the cut? Years ago I did some volunteer gardening through a garden club I was a member of, and they had us cutting some rose bushes back. They showed us how to do it and I don’t remember a lot about it now, but I do remember that you were supposed to angle the cut a certain way based on the shape you wanted for the bush. If you cut it at the wrong angle, it would make the new growth go off in the wrong direction and you’d end up with a misshapen looking rose bush. I’m kind of worried about doing that with the Limelights, cutting them back and cutting at the wrong angle.

      • It won’t matter with these but I tend to cut so that water will roll off and not stay on top. Yes cut them early in the spring early enough that they aren’t sprouting too much. They really are a forgiving shrub. With roses they recommend a 45º angle cut to encourage more blooming.

        • I think I’m just making it too complicated. I remember with the roses, you had to think about which way you wanted the angle to point after you cut it. If you cut it one way, the new growth would grown inward toward the plant, but if you cut it where the angle pointed another direction, the new growth would grow in the opposite direction. So the shape of the rose bush was determined by not just the angle but which side of the stem you cut it on. I wonder if it’s the same way with hydrangeas, like we wouldn’t want all the new growth to grown inward toward the plant. I understood it back when I was pruning the roses because it had just been explained to me how to do it. lol But not sure I remember now. I’ll have to Google it and see it was it says. You can really control the shape of a plant by which side of the stem you choose to angle/cut.

        • Maybe it just doesn’t matter with hydrangeas like it does with roses. I’m sure I’m making this harder than it needs to be. I’m good at that!

  14. Just look at that landscaping (and all the work)! Beautiful. Those limelights are perfect, especially the placement. The look so good between the windows with the black shutters framing them, plus you can see them from inside. And all those boxwoods–are they happy too?

    • Thanks, Mia! I had no idea how much I was going to enjoy seeing them from inside but they are so pretty to see when I pass by those windows and catch a view of the blooms. 🙂

  15. rattlebridge farm says

    Your hydrangeas are blooming their hearts out–so pretty! Thanks for hosting the party!

  16. I follow you on Instagram, and I noticed the Chihuly piece right away. Looking forward to seeing more pictures. Thanks so much for the beautiful party this morning….there is so much fall inspiration…I’ve been here too long 😀

  17. Susan, thanks for hosting! I love your hydrangeas!

  18. Sandra D in Joliet says

    I went to see the Chihuly exhibit at the Garfield Conservatory in Chicago many years ago. I absolutely loved it. They had “spikes” and flower type shapes and the globes all over. The huge glob of orange pieces grouped together looked like a huge flame. I’m so glad I made myself go see it, just sorry I couldn’t take some pieces home with me. I love hydrangeas.

  19. Hi Susan. Your limelight hydrangeas look beautiful!

    Thank you for hosting today! 😉
    Rebeca

  20. I am looking forward to visiting the Chihuly garden and glass museum in Seattle one day! Just gotta get back on my feet again! You can see online and it is amazing!

  21. Susan, your upright hydrangeas are beautiful! Hydrangea Paniculata ‘Limelight’ bloom on new growth. They should be pruned back in late winter/early spring.

  22. Thanks so much for the party!!
    Hugs,Deb

  23. What a very beautiful garden! Thanks for taking us there ♥

    summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

  24. Your limelight hydrangeas are really pretty. I have two new ones also and I’m not sure when to cut them back. So, I would appreciate it if you would post anything you learn what to do with them. Thanks so much.

    • Irene, it seems a lot of folks are saying in the comments that they can be pruned in either the fall or early spring. I think I’ll wait and do it in early spring so they won’t look so chopped on all winter. They put out their flowers on new growth, so that’s another good reason to cut them back some each year.

  25. Just love your limelights. Would you post anything you learn what to do with them, as far as timing, when and what to you feed them and when. Thanks so much.

  26. hi Susan, you’re hydrangeas are lovely, lucky you, mine were awful this year 🙁 I’ve seen wonderful fun things made from old tires, so cute! Thanks for the party and the info on the Atlanta BG-

    • I forgot to water mine for a short spell this summer and they got a little brown on some of the leaves, but thankfully I noticed and watered them. They seem to be really hardy and forgiving about the occasional slip, so I bet your’s will bounce back, Jenna if it was from lack of rain.

  27. What a hoot with the recycled tires! Great idea! I love when people recycle and repurpose stuff! Your Limelights are beautiful. I am planting a Hydrangea in the southwest corner of my backyard flower bed next year. I have gigantic elephant ears there now but they get too droopy when our hot weather hits and daily watering doesn’t help. So out they go and something new will go in. Do you realize that I will be in Atlanta in 2 weeks!! Are you ready???????

  28. When we traveled to Aruba several years ago I was amazed to see the beautiful way they used old tires for planters.
    They were everywhere.. brightly painted and full of flowers.
    They have a unique way of using them… they cut them to look like BIRDS with wonderful plume tails and faces… just amazing!
    They had them hanging in trees… so pretty.. and just bursting with flowers and greenery.
    http://i.imgur.com/VGXH5JY.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/bKTF8IG.jpg

  29. Thank you for sharing and for the inspiration. People here in Ecuador do that a lot too.
    Have a lovely week.
    FABBY

  30. I am the worlds worst gardener, and my Limelights look spectacular! We are at a very high elevation (5300′) in the NC mountains, so I have to cut them back before we close up for the winter (end of Oct/early Nov.) I cut off most of the giant blooms, bring them in the house and put them in about an inch or two of water. They finish drying out naturally, and when I return the next summer, I have gorgeous bouquets of dried hydrangeas….some that are “rosey” looking, some off white. Is there a way to add a photo to a response?

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