Left, Hydrangea macrophylla 'Fuji Waterfall', centre Hydrangea quercifolia 'Anabelle' and centre bottom Hydrangea macrophylla 'Ayesha' 16 July 2021

We moved from our large corner house and garden in Kerrisdale almost five years ago because we could not afford the upkeep of the house which was deteriorating at a rapid rate. The bathrooms leaked and there was mold and exposed asbestos in the basement. I had a chronic cough perhaps caused by a combination of the mold and working in an unventilated darkroom.

I pressed Rosemary with the idea that we had to sell and move.

We did and this broke Rosemary’s heart. She loved her garden. We had an incredible variety of plants.

We were able to move some of the plants to our daughter’s property in Lillooet. But of our 30 varieties of species and cultivar hydrangeas only one, Hydrangea arborescens was hardy in Lillooet at it blooms from new growth. What do to with the rest?

I tried to suppress then my loss of this plants even if Rosemary could not. But a sort of late melancholy is affecting me these days.

Hydrangeas have always been special to me as they proliferated in our Buenos Aires garden. We called them hortensias. I had to pick three of our Kerrisdale garden hydrangeas to bring to our small Kits property.

I chose Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Ayesha’because of its curious multiple colour changes when the blooms age within a season and because the florets remind me of English tea cups.

The second one is a delightful, very shade tolerant Japanese hydrangea called Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Fuji Waterfall’.

The third hydrangea was an obvious choice and that was the Oak Leaf Hydrangea in a double flowered version called Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Annabelle’.