"Those Blue Flowers You Like So Much"

As summer was winding down and 12-year-old Pier Giorgio was about to leave Pollone and return home to Turin, he wrote to his mother that he would bring her some flowers. 

"...some gladiolas and those blue flowers you like so much.  There are still some gladiolas and also some roses.  The Chrysanthemums are starting to bloom."

Those "blue flowers" grow all over Pollone and fill various flower pots around the family home in several other colors.  They're called ortensia in Italian, hydrangea in English, and are simply stunning. 

To have a little of Pollone with me when I'm back in Nashville, I decided to grow hydrangea.  I bought a very healthy looking plant and put it in the ground.  The flowers on it fell away and there was no new growth the entire summer.  Walking around the neighborhood, I noticed a woman with a beautiful arrangement  and asked her for some gardening tips.  "Don't worry, honey," she assured me, "You can't kill hydrangea.  It will come back."

Actually, it seems I can kill hydrangea.  It didn't come back.

On my next visit to Italy, I was able to spend time with an older Italian cousin in Calabria.  Her hydrangea were mouth-watering!  When I explained the problem with my soil and that I had given up ever having hydrangea, she led me to a huge bush and showed me that it originated from a simple pot. "Try growing them in a pot," she said.  "It's easy to grow hydrangea."

She convinced me and gave me great hope.  So, the next summer, I found a nice pot and a beautiful starter plant and was all set to fill my vases for months.  Not a single bud.

Don't worry, someone said.  It takes a year for them to adjust to the soil.  Try adding coffee grounds.  My plant must be a tea drinker.  Despite beautiful green foliage in the spring, it's now September and there hasn't been a single bloom. 

My Italian grandmother must be rolling in her grave.  She could throw a handful of soil and a few seeds on a slab of concrete and have a supply of tomatoes for the whole summer!  I didn't get her green thumb, obviously.
 
I'll try again next year.  Meanwhile, I'm open to suggestions.  I sure would love "some of those blue flowers." 

Verso l'alto!  ///cmw