Flowers A-Z: H & I

H is for...

...Hydrangea

I'm a bit obsessed with hydrangeas.  I currently have five growing, three of them being the regular "mophead" type with tons of little flowers creating a huge flower head, and two of them being the "lacecap" variety that has little flower shoots circling a center (pictured above).  One is a white one, and the rest are pink.  Hydrangeas like a bit of shade here and lots of water!  These bloom in the summer, then lose their leaves in the winter and come back in the spring.

...Hellebore
Hellebore is also called the "Lenten Rose" because it comes very early spring.  The colors in these flowers are just amazing - green petals specked with pink and purple.  Beautiful!  The leaves are very sturdy and have pokey edges.  They do sulk a bit when it gets really hot, but they perk up as soon as they're watered and the sun goes away.

And I is for only one plant I can think of in our yard, which is Impatiens:

This is an annual that likes shade, so I've stuck them under other plants.  Apparently, they'll make a little mound, but mine haven't yet, and I fear they never will.  Oh well.  It's fun to see a bit of hot pink poking out from underneath other plants.