12th August 2024 Beena
Hello, dear readers. Today, I will share a discovery about hydrangea flowers that brought me immense joy. I painted this bush with hydrangea flowers from a photo that Ric sent to me a while ago. He lives in Trieste, a beautiful city by the sea in Italy. The picture that he took is from his garden. I painted this with acrylic. To capture the vibrancy of the bush, which shows that part of the bush is in the shadow, I had to layer it many times with acrylic paint. When acrylic paint dries, it looks dull. Hence, I need to add more layers to give that illusion of depth.
Hydrangeas grow mostly as bushes; sometimes, they can be small trees. The cultivated ones are large, unlike the ones that grow wildly. However, if you wish to restore a wilted hydrangea, immerse the stem in boiling water first, as the petals can absorb water, then immerse the petals in room-temperature water to restore the hydration completely. This discovery was truly exciting, and I’m thrilled to share this tip with you. I would love to hear about your experiences with hydrangeas or any other tips you might have for gardening. Please let me know if you have tried this trick before.
This aspect gave me hope. I felt invigorated. It meant so much to me, that when we are feeling down, it’s crucial to find joy in simple things. Try something to lift your spirits. Maybe you can talk to a good friend, stroll, play with your dog or cook a nice meal. My little Yumi, a Maltipoo mix breed, is an invigorating tool. She is a bundle of life and makes me laugh. Find your bundle of joy when you feel down, and like the hydrangeas, you will return to life🤗🤗.
8 thoughts on “Bundle of Joy”
Nice diffentiation of the pink and green Dr Beena, always a reminder to me that in life, there is always 2 sides of the coin
Yes very true. The explorstion of the other side takes time:)
Nice diffentiation of the pink and green Dr Beena, always a reminder to me that in life, there is always 2 sides of the coin
Dr Beena, that’s the first time I heard about restoring a plant using boiling water. I should have known this method. All my hydrangeas died😭😭😭
Yea I learnt it when I wrote this story
Thanks for the tip on reinvigorating cut hydrangeas. This is an interesting plant, not least because of its ability to change the colour of its flowers depending on the soil pH. Your painting seems to have some blue flowers beside pink, an indication of a neutral soil pH. On canvas, the matter is easily resolved by the artist‘s brush and palette!
Oh I wasnt aware of the soil pH. Learn something everyday😅
Yes, the Color of hydrangeas change with the acidity of the soil, and this is true for other flowers as the pigment that do red, violet and blue in flowers (and fruits) are all from the same family of molecules called anthocyanins (see here for more info: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5613902/).
Another tips I was given recently by a friend who has hydrangeas in her garden (in france) when I was complaining that the hydrangeas in my garden remain small and don’t look great : « put a lot of hydrangea specific fertiliser, it make a huge difference ». Unfortunately such fertiliser is not super easy to find (even on Amazon) so I have not yet experienced it…