A solitary bee on Hydrangea Ayesha...
A while back I wrote about mophead Hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla). At the time I feared my popcorn Hydrangea Ayesha was having a bad year, with only one or two blooms on a big leafy bush.
Pale Hydrangea Ayesha florets in bud...
I can now report that a lot more blooms have appeared, so it must just have been the harsh winter that set it back.
Here are Ayesha blooms at various stages in their development, most of them on the same bush on the same day in early October 2011.
Developing flowers of Hydrangea Ayesha...
The shape of the flowerhead is called a corymb and it is made up of many florets, some fertile and some sterile and all with showy big sepals.
Hydrangea Ayesha corymbs...
Hydrangea Ayesha in full bloom
Another look at the mature blue flowers of Hydrangea Ayesha...
This fading Hydrangea Ayesha is turning a pleasant green...
Wet Hydrangea Ayesha - a snapshot taken with my iPhone...
The Squirrelbasket 
I’m not a fan of bush hydrangeas – except for photos of their florets close up.
I guess I feel that way about most plants in my garden – only interesting close up…
Best wishes 🙂