Hydrangea or Crape Myrtle in the Neighborhood

We used to have two little purple flowered hydrangea trees on either side of our Capitol Hill patio garden. I used to keep them trimmed back so they wouldn’t grow too much taller than the fence. The Capitol Hill neighborhood was filled with a variety of crape myrtles or hydrangeas - especially surrounding the Library of Congress where I worked for ten years. Rather than drive over to the park for a morning walk yesterday we thought we would stay in our northern Virginia neighborhood. It was a tad cooler and cloudier so we didn’t need the protection of the tree shade in the park. So it was the urban jungle tour. I hadn’t really paid much attention to the hydrangeas - or crape myrtles - all along the route, but was struck by the carpets of petals that covered the sidewalks. The heavy rains helped that along and it looked a lot like the aftermath of cherry blossom season. So as we walked I noted the different colors - white, pink, no purple, and almost red. Close up the flowers look even more interesting. Sometimes I miss our old neighborhood for these reasons, but I’m glad we moved for a lot of others. But it hardly matters where you live to notice the beautiful flowers that surround you. So which is it - hydrangeas or crape myrtles?