When Things Go Right and You Didn't Even Try (aka Accidental Green Thumb)

Awhile back, I posted about a small hydrangea bush in the backyard and how we didn't know the color it was going to be until it blossomed.  What we found was a beautiful shade of purple.

After some research, however, I found out that purple hydrangeas don't really exist as a varietal.  Just like you can change a bush from pink to blue by altering the pH of the soil, if you get it just right, you can catch the bush halfway between and it'll come-out purple.  Many gardeners try to achieve this effect and fail because of the delicate balance the soil must have in order to do it.

Turns out we just have good old fashioned dumb luck.  :-)  That said, I don't think I'll be moving the plant as I had originally planned.  If the soil conditions where it is are just right for purple, we might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Here's a pink flower bunch that grew alongside the purple ones on the same bush.  Apparently, it got some nutrients the other bunches didn't.

It's easy to forget that plants are living things and that they can have all kinds of quirks and differences of character just like human beings.  And as with all living things, there's that unpredictability in how something will turn out.  It's a wonderful thing and makes gardening all the more interesting and fun.