Mary Kay says she is partial to “Matilda Gutkes,” a rich, almost electric blue color, and “Blushing Bride,” a delicate white specimen with a subtle tinge of pink, while Mal counts the fuchia red “Majsa,” “Mathilda Gutkes,” and “Director Kuhnert,” a medium to dark blue variety among his top choices. “I tend to favor plants with a lustre or sheen to their leaves and darker pigment and a touch of vigor,” he says, noting that “Pennymac,” named after Penny McHenry, is also a sentimental favorite.

The future looks hydrangea-bright for the Condons. Mary Kay feels that while innkeeping was a passion for 14 years, she prefers playing with the flowers now. “I have a little less passion for the business side however,” she says. Yet you can’t keep a retired innkeeper away from her roots or long. Together with daughter Carol, she opened a successful new “Hydrangea Camp” on the property last summer.

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