Hydrangeas Filled Copper Pot

My mother grows hydrangeas by the bushels, 

from branches she bent over and buried in dirt,
then transplanted. 

Blue ones, pink ones, magenta ones, white ones, green ones, 

all down the north side of the attached garage, 

around the corner and along the east side of the house, 

and all across the back of the detached garage. 

Hydrangeas

everywhere. 

My favorite... you guessed it... blue...

This may be my favorite flower...seriously.

I did not get the hydrangea-growing gene. 

I've killed too many plants to count.
Sigh...

These beautiful huge blooms are from my mom's house.  

My sister brought them home with us this week from Mother's garden. 

They are nestled in my latest find, a lidded copper tub, 

found at a very rustic antique store 

owned and operated by a high-school friend, Chipper. 

Whenever I visit Mother, I try to make at least one trip to 

Chipper's store to see his latest inventory. 

Chipper in blue shirt with my sister in striped shirt

Last Saturday when we pulled into the store's drive, 

Chipper was sitting on the front porch polishing the copper tub. 

We were headed back to Mother's 

after a family reunion picnic at the lake. 

My sister was driving, 

and we both spotted the tub before the car came to a stop. 

 Two or three sentences later with offers and counteroffers, 

the copper tub was mine! 

Cobwebs and dead leaves all....inside.

 Chipper had only gotten the outside cleaned. 

We arrived in the nick of time before anyone else saw this beauty. 

The tub is not in perfect shape. 

There is a hole on the lid's right side above, 

the lid's handle looks like it has been mended, and 

the bottom probably is not water tight. 

But, look at the size...perfect for holding firewood this winter. 

I love the wooden handles on either end of the tub, 

and the hydrangeas are beautiful in it. 

Chipper bought the tub at an estate sale. 

I wonder if the original owner displayed hydrangeas in it or 

stored firewood in it near the fireplace. 

The hydrangeas survived the plane ride very nicely. 

The copper pot stayed at Mother's until our next trip by car. 

You know, I think it's time I tried again to grow hydrangeas. 

Maybe, just maybe, 

I did inherit the hydrangea-growing gene, and 

it is just latent. 

❦

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