PATINA... becoming more beautiful with age

The hydrangeas in my garden are in the fall of their lives... literally! They have lost their fresh bloom.

I think my hydrangeas are even more lovely this time of year than in the height of summer.

They have a rich patina... and have become even more beautiful with age...

They are more mature now... not the moppy-headed attention grabbers of their youth. That time has passed.

Their intense color softened with age.

They are more subtle... more delicate... but not more fragile.

Beautifully stained by time... they are resplendent!

I wonder if these exquisite hydrangeas wish for younger times... if they worry about aging? Do they know they are far more interesting and fascinating than when they were in their summertime days of youth?

The passing of time and the experiences of sun and rain and wind and pruning and some perfect days have made their mark on them.

The hydrangeas have stood through the good and bad of the season! And it shows... they wear it so well!

Exquisitely complex in the fall of their lives... the produce colors that are only earned through longevity.

I too am in the fall of my life... "just stepping out of summer and into early fall", I like to say!

These beautiful hydrangeas that wrap themselves around my house could teach me a lot... a whole lot!

They have become more beautiful as the season moves into fall...

That's what I would like to do too! I would like to wear my age well ...

Beauty, great or small, is in the eyes of the beholder. Unfortunately, many "beholders" are quite blind and have a very narrow definition of beauty.

They miss the beauty of the patina of age!

I don't think hydrangeas are worried by popular opinion...