Gardening With (but without) Nana

Yes, more NANA! 

Full disclosure: None of these lovely ladies are my loveliest Nana.

I'd mentioned before about Nana moving closer to the rest of the family and cramming in quality time. Well, having a Nana that is a Master Gardener visit your finnicky yarden = lots of mental notes! 

Turns out we gots the crappy soil and we should pull back all the mulch this fall, work in the good dirt, and stand in delight in the spring. Just that "simple." She's full of good information, this is just the tip of iceberg. 

However, the bit-of-info I'm most recently excited about is rooting hydrangeas. While in Litchfield Beach this year, Aunt Heather's bubblegum pink hydrangeas were blooming and even if I couldn't transplant them via cuttings, I at least wanted to enjoy a few blooms at home for a few more days.

I'm glad I remembered to ask Nana about transplanting them because it turns out it's supposed to be pretty easy!

I needed some good potting soil, to trim the leaves up to the flower heads, and to keep them moist in a shady spot outside.

Aren't the blooms precious!? I really hope this works out!

I snipped the bottoms of the stems and then pulled off the leaves. Cutting/removing the leafy parts will encourage the flowers' energy to focus on making roots. The roots will grow from the nodes located up/down the stem of the flower.

I put a coffee filter in the bottom of the pot and then I packed the stems in some "good dirt." I thought it would be neat to us the discarded leaves as a mulch to make sure the soil stays moist. And because it seemed like the mother-nature-loving thing to do.

This will be my view from the front door - probably every morning, until something happens: new growth or death! I may have to move it to the back porch (as Nana initally recommended) but this area gets considerable shade during the day. ...I'm sure I'll end up moving it tonight since I really REALLY want these in my yard forever!