Wishing on a wishing star
An interesting article about one of my favorite flowers:
High on Hydrangeas
I have two lovely mophead hydrangeas, which are only now dying back. I have high hopes that they will be back next summer, so I went looking for some info...
LIMITATIONS TO HYDRANGEA COLOR CHANGE:
1. White hydrangeas can NOT be changed to pink or blue by the grower. (The Almighty sometimes adds pink and red to blooms as they age).
2. If you live in a hot climate, it is unlikely you will ever see a "true red" hydrangea. No matter how convincing those pictures in the catalogs are or how much lime is added to the soil, one can only achieve a very deep or dark pink, but not a true red (at least here in the South. I'd love to hear from you if you have a different experience).
3. One can rarely change the intensity of a color (how strong or pale the color is). The intensity develops for a number of reasons: the heredity of a particular hydrangea variety, weather conditions (hot or cold, humid or dry), health of the plant, and possibly other natural factors. Fertilizing hydrangeas once or twice a year may result in a little more saturated color simply because the health of the plant may be improved.
4. A few varieties of hydrangeas tend more toward the pink or the blue range of colors, but will not retain even this color if soil conditions are not right.
On a less satisfactory note, an article from Slate, which leaves me feeling a little ill and agreeing with Professor Robert Weisberg of Stanford Law School:
If we've learned anything from the dreary wars over politically correct language in America, it's that purging ugly words from the lexicon hardly makes the ugly ideas they represent go away.
To put it another way: If the complaining witness in a rape trial has to describe herself as having had "intercourse" with the defendant, should the complaining witness in a mugging be forced to testify that he was merely giving his attacker a loan?
Sure., the above is a bit of snarky hyperbole, but it seems to me that we do eal damage to the process not to mention the complainent in these cases if we replace the word "rape" with "sex".
Whacked Fact of the day:
Holy Cow!
In 1970, households spent 34 percent of their food budget on dining out, compared to almost 50 percent today.
And since I have been in an internet rut of late, a few new (to me) sites:
Little yellow guy - Not sure what this is about, but I particularly love the "chill out" one!
Subway Life - Ahhh if only I were talented, this is the very sort of thing I would have created!
DailyLit - Yay for reading!
Alas, I just caved and bought an iPod shuffle in that green apple color...
High on Hydrangeas
I have two lovely mophead hydrangeas, which are only now dying back. I have high hopes that they will be back next summer, so I went looking for some info...
LIMITATIONS TO HYDRANGEA COLOR CHANGE:
1. White hydrangeas can NOT be changed to pink or blue by the grower. (The Almighty sometimes adds pink and red to blooms as they age).
2. If you live in a hot climate, it is unlikely you will ever see a "true red" hydrangea. No matter how convincing those pictures in the catalogs are or how much lime is added to the soil, one can only achieve a very deep or dark pink, but not a true red (at least here in the South. I'd love to hear from you if you have a different experience).
3. One can rarely change the intensity of a color (how strong or pale the color is). The intensity develops for a number of reasons: the heredity of a particular hydrangea variety, weather conditions (hot or cold, humid or dry), health of the plant, and possibly other natural factors. Fertilizing hydrangeas once or twice a year may result in a little more saturated color simply because the health of the plant may be improved.
4. A few varieties of hydrangeas tend more toward the pink or the blue range of colors, but will not retain even this color if soil conditions are not right.
On a less satisfactory note, an article from Slate, which leaves me feeling a little ill and agreeing with Professor Robert Weisberg of Stanford Law School:
If we've learned anything from the dreary wars over politically correct language in America, it's that purging ugly words from the lexicon hardly makes the ugly ideas they represent go away.
To put it another way: If the complaining witness in a rape trial has to describe herself as having had "intercourse" with the defendant, should the complaining witness in a mugging be forced to testify that he was merely giving his attacker a loan?
Sure., the above is a bit of snarky hyperbole, but it seems to me that we do eal damage to the process not to mention the complainent in these cases if we replace the word "rape" with "sex".
Whacked Fact of the day:
Holy Cow!
In 1970, households spent 34 percent of their food budget on dining out, compared to almost 50 percent today.
And since I have been in an internet rut of late, a few new (to me) sites:
Little yellow guy - Not sure what this is about, but I particularly love the "chill out" one!
Subway Life - Ahhh if only I were talented, this is the very sort of thing I would have created!
DailyLit - Yay for reading!
Alas, I just caved and bought an iPod shuffle in that green apple color...