They make the island look like something from a postcard! I also loved seeing the different colors of the flowers as the blooming season comes to an end.
Hydrangeas are found all across Faial, and other islands too! I see them every day on the side of the road when I take the bus to work, on farms and even by the volcanic craters on the island. However, hydrangeas are not originally from the Azores. They are actually from Asia, and were brought to the Azores on ships as decoration. However, over time they spread and have become a huge part of the environment, here, especially in Faial. They grew well in the Azores, so much so that hydrangeas are a large part of why people come to the Azores on vacation.
Hydrangeas do best with rain, not too much sunlight and good soil. The Azores have all of that! The soil has lots of nutrients from the volcanic land. It also never gets very cold or hot here, which helps these flowers bloom and survive.
While sometimes bugs nibble on the petals, almost nothing eats these plants in the Azores! Farmers realized this, and often use rows of hydrangea bushes to create fences to keep their cattle from wandering away. The hydrangea are what is called an invasive species, meaning it came from somewhere else. When this happens, a new plant or animal may take over the space of whatever was living there before. To prevent too much invasion, the hydrangeas are also monitored and studied very closeley, to make sure they don't grow out of control.
