Shoutout to the old lady at the garden center who saved my hydrangeas

Was at Lowe's in Portland last June just staring at a rack of dying plants, ready to give up on my whole backyard. This woman in a straw hat comes up and says "you're drowning them, honey, they need morning sun not a fire hose." She spent 10 minutes walking me through pruning and it worked. Has anyone else had a stranger just walk up and fix your whole gardening game like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_davis9011d ago

Totally agree that gardeners like that are the best kind of strangers. I actually just read an article in Sunset magazine about how overwatering kills way more plants than underwatering, especially for hydrangeas. They said those big leaves will droop even when they're totally soaked, which makes people just water even more. That lady knew her stuff though, I bet she's been gardening for decades. It's funny how someone who just sees you struggling can give you the one tip that saves everything. Hope your hydrangeas are thriving this year!

angelaellis11d ago

@jana_davis90 right, that's exactly what happened with my friend Sam. She had this huge hydrangea bush that looked totally dead every afternoon, so she'd water it even more. Turns out she was drowning the thing for months. Some random guy at the nursery finally told her to stop watering until the soil felt dry a few inches down. Now it's huge and blooms like crazy every summer. Funny how the simplest advice from a stranger can fix everything. Hope your hydrangeas are doing awesome too!