Hydrangea Magic

I love hydrangeas! Before we moved to Japan I’d only seen them in photos. 

We rented an old traditional Japanese house when we first moved here. The garden was a total disaster. It took me a few months of chopping, digging and hauling to see what it was that I actually had to work with. In the front and back of the home were bushes. I cut them back but I had no idea what they were. 

The hydrangeas at our first house in Japan. 

And then came spring! The bushes began to grow rapidly and I noticed …buds! Curious, I checked them every day until, to my astonishment, huge pink and blue flowers began to emerge! Giant puffy heads of brilliant flowers that looked luminous against the grey skies of the rainy season. 

Ajisai- hydrangeas! I couldn’t help but fall in love. I saw them everywhere. Along riversides, they dotted the mountains and grew in the hedges. 

Hydrangea season is also the beginning of the monsoon season in Kyushu. Along with the rains and hydrangea come the fireflies. Because we live in a beautiful mountainous region where there are plenty of rivers of pure fresh water- fireflies thrive! 

Firefly sanctuary

The hydrangeas seem to be dwindling now. The season is almost over. But I have some lovely memories of them this year. 

I look forward to the season again next year!