We had a visit from a cousin of mine (actually, a first cousin, once removed) who is a Professor of Sociology in Minnesota. She came down to pack up my Dad’s paintings that were in a storage locker on the North side of Milwaukee, which I had been unable to sell to any useful degree, to make a sizable dent in the total number. The locker was costing me a bunch of money every month, so her offer to empty it out was a welcome relief. When she arrived, she had two plants with her, as a gift to my wife, who had expressed a desire for more houseplants. They were a very nice philodendron in a large pot, and a hydrangea, in a smaller pot. “A hydrangea”, I thought, “that’s a BUSH, and grows outdoors!” And indeed, I have never seen them growing indoors. “Oh, well,” I thought, “we’ll do what we can; maybe it’ll do OK.” So I stripped the fancy plastic foil wrapper off it, found a big dish to set it in, watered it and set it on the window shelf.
After about a week, I was able to observe that it has a marked sensitivity to going dry, in that the leaves curl up most alarmingly. Watering restores it quite quickly. And, as I watered it the other day, I found that it was blooming … not a big deal, by the standards of an outdoor plant, but definitely blooming … a fine, pink flower, showing signs of developing further!
So, having no better plan, I photographed it … here it is:
… And that’s about it … maybe you’re as astonished as I am. In any case, enjoy!
Cheers, all!
der Wandersmann 
evawiren
June 8, 2016 at 5:17 pm
Very nice and a flower I have not seen over here . Maybe our climate is too cold for it. It is beautiful
derwandersmann
June 9, 2016 at 4:01 am
Thank you, Eva … This blossom is only a single flower out of a large cluster, which is how they normally form, in large balls of these small blooms. I did not know that they didn’t occur in Europe.
evawiren
June 9, 2016 at 11:19 am
I had to google it after beeing to the florist. Over here we have got them too. My misstake, we call them Hortensia and here they need to put up a grand fight to survive.
derwandersmann
June 9, 2016 at 3:31 pm
I can believe it! Your country has many climatic features similar to mine, but is usually much more rigourous.
saktimari
June 18, 2016 at 10:58 pm
Beautiful flower …. a reason to rejoice 🙂 🙂 🙂
Happy Day 🙂
derwandersmann
June 19, 2016 at 1:25 pm
Thank you, Mari.
saktimari
June 19, 2016 at 5:23 pm
derwandersmann 🙂
have a nice Sunday 🙂
Jill
June 29, 2016 at 8:46 am
Nice! We have hydrangeas outside, but one might fare better indoors as it would get (perhaps) better attention. It had a lovely bloom but was deprived the necessary water and wilted terribly; then when my son went to water it the hose was broken- I never did check to see if he took a bucket to it… I depend too much upon weather to be a proper gardener. The one hydrangea is doing well, rain or shine. 🙂
EnJOY!
derwandersmann
June 29, 2016 at 2:39 pm
Well, speakin’ from experience, be sure that you are not bringing in a bunch of stowaways. By the time I realized what was going on, I had a full-blown mealybug infestation … there was nowt to do but discard the plant; the infestation had advanced too far.
Jill
June 29, 2016 at 8:16 pm
Oh dear. At least you clicked the pretty while it lasted. I think mine was truly just wilted but may more closely inspect… it remains out-of-doors…
pam
July 6, 2016 at 4:15 pm
Really pretty bloom, and interesting, sort of crinkly leaves. Tried growing a bush outside in Phoenix, Arizona but it didn’t make it past the first month of summer. Thought I had planted it in a shady enough spot, but forgot how the sun shifts. It was curtains for the plant.
derwandersmann
July 6, 2016 at 4:29 pm
Yep; and they don’t like dryness; leaves wilting and drooping at the first hint of it.
pam
July 15, 2016 at 12:06 am
I thought these were Begonis but then I no longer have a green thumb and have forgotten much that I used to know about plants. I found a way of getting rid of the tiny flies that seem to come in with plants just bought. I fill a cup half full with water, put a few squirts of dish detergent in it, then place it next to the plant. The next morning there will be several tiny ddead flies in the cup. They seem to be attracted to it, then drown. After a couple dsys, no more tiny bugs.
derwandersmann
July 15, 2016 at 2:37 pm
AHA! The dish detergent serves to lower the surface tension of the liquid, so the bugs can’t stay on the surface … the liquid is “too wet”, and the bugs sink to the point where they can’t breathe, and die.
pam
July 15, 2016 at 3:16 pm
Exactly! I never liked spraying chemicals so when I tried this, it was great. Even used this method with plants on the open patio.