better outdoor living at home spring


Hydrangeas & Architecture


One group of flowering shrubs that make the summer season so beautiful are hydrangeas. Recently, I couldn’t help but notice how striking they are when positioned next to the architectural features of a house or yard, like white fences, porches, railings and steps, arbors, and front doors.

 

I started noticing how hydrangeas and the architecture were so meant for each other. They are a gorgeous complement to one another.

 

keandevelopment

Source: Kean Development

 

 

Hydrangea blooms beginning to turn white from their initial light green stage.  Love this look of the hydrangeas with the period architectural features of the house – clapboard siding, slate roof shingles, and panel shutters.

 

hydrangea-clapboard

 

 

If the opportunity presents itself in the design projects we do for clients, we like to make the space look like it has been there for a while, like it has had time to acquire the ‘patina’ of age. Being a shrub that was used in period landscapes (think Colonial revival), and today termed ‘old-fashion’, using hydrangeas in the landscape can almost immediately give a ‘settled’ feel to a landscape.

 

pinterest

Source: Pinterest

 

 

In design, whether interior or outdoors, it is popular with both designers, and homeowners, to achieve a desired ‘look or feel’ to a space. This porch has such a relaxed feel, almost cottage-like, and the informal planting of hydrangeas is perfectly in sync with the porch –

 

bostondesignguide

Source: Boston Design Guide

 

 

How about this grayed cedar-shingle house with its white trim,  arbor-covered entry, and a white fence and gate flanked by a large hydrangea – so perfectly charming –

 

pinterest

Source: Pinterest

 

 

How beautifully, and seamlessly, do these blue hydrangeas blend the architecture of the porch with the lawn –

 

 

labargehomes

Source: Labarge Homes

 

 

Hydrangeas can help give a newer home the timeless look like you would find on older homes. They are as classic in the yard of a house that overlooks an ocean beach as they are in the yard of a 2-story colonial on a tree-lined street.

 

pinterest

Source: Pinterest

 

 

The marriage of hydrangeas and architecture is stunning –

 

newenglanghomemag

Source: New England Home magazine

 

 

same house at the front steps –

 

newenglanghomemag

Source: New England Home magazine

 

 

Separating spaces between porch and pool –

 

bostondesignguide

Source: Boston Design Guide

 

 

Classically matched –

 

pinterest

Source: Pinterest

 

 

What architectural features do you like to match with hydrangeas?

~M

 

Note: Whenever we use a photo from Pinterest, we make every effort to credit the original source. When we can’t find that source, we have to resort to simply referencing Pinterest as the source. If we do find the original source, we will credit the photo as such.

 

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