July 6, 2011

I liked this little arrangement so much I moved it up into bedroom windowsill. It's just a glass vase with one big, white Annabelle hydrangea blossom and one branching, blooming leatherwood stem in it.  Leatherwood (Cyrilla racemiflora) is a really pretty native shrub with bottle-brush-like flowers. You can't see them very well in the photo, but they're a beautiful off-white that looks pretty with the Annabelle hydrangea. Leatherwood also has glossy, unblemished  foliage that turns pretty colors in the fall, and I can't figure out why more people don't grow it. Called around looking for someone from whom I could buy more yesterday. No luck. Can't even find it in the Forest Farm catalog, which sells most every woody shrub. I bought the one I have from Bert Shoosmith about 12 years ago, and it's about 8 feet tall, but now I want a hedge of it! Wish Bert and his nursery were still around.