The garden is bursting with hydrangeas right now! The mazus, which is the ground cover that is in between my stepping stones and underneath the fountain has grown in nice and full.  All of the supporting plantings, such as astilbe, hostas, ferns, roses and spirea have bloomed and are at their peak. This is honestly the height of the blooming season. 

 

I will take every chance I get to be outside and soak it all in! 

 

In the photo below, you can see 2 limelight hydrangea trees flanking the arbor gate. Those are now gone. After years of frustration that they were uneven and that their structures were quite different, I had them removed and replaced with boxwoods. The blooms were pretty, but they were not worth the 11 months of the year that they were not in bloom. 

 

This is all to say….gardens evolve. And, change. If something isn't working, you can only fight it so long. Don't be afraid to take something away. That can be as important as adding something in.