Author: Pam

New England native, Florida resident. Blogging about boating, beach-combing, gardening, camping, and knitting. Work for Zazzle as a designer since 2008.

Mother’s Day Gift: Fuchsia Hanging Basket

Even though I bought this fuchsia plant myself, my kids are going to chip in and pay for it as a belated Mother’s Day gift.  As each holiday comes around my kids ask what I want and I can’t ever say I want anything.  “Take me out to eat” is what I usually say.  Not cooking is the best gift I can think of.

Pink and white fuchsia hanging plant
My New Fuchsia Plant

But I recently splurged on this new hanging basket.  I saw it on my gardening expedition to Wilton where the nursery had tons of them to choose from. Some had purple and pink flowers (love those too) and one type had long, white pointy flowers – very different. But I chose this huge, pink and white one.

The only problem is that it’s too cold outside to hang it so it’s inside on a little table. It will have a permanent home out front under the beech trees once we get some warm weather. May began with warmth, but suddenly we’ve had two nights of 30 degrees. In New England we can’t plan on warm weather until about June.

I also bought some small petunia and vinca plants to make my own hanging baskets, which I’ll be doing soon.

Early Shopping For the Vegetable Garden

orange and yellow marigolds
Marigolds and Zinnias For My Garden

I headed over to House by The Side of The Road in Wilton, New Hampshire yesterday to look for hydrangeas and other flowering shrubs for my yard. I had never been in early spring to see what they had for vegetable plants, but thought I’d check it out.

This place is huge. They place big wagon-type carts all over the greenhouse area for customers to grab and fill up. I filled one with annuals – the marigolds, you see in the picture, and other things – then got another cart and headed outside to the perennial area. Continue reading “Early Shopping For the Vegetable Garden”

Making Hydrangea Flowers Turn Blue: Lowering the pH

Blue hydrangea shrub
Blue Flowering Hydrangea Shrub

Certain plants need a low pH, or acidic soil to grow and thrive. The hydrangea will do well in any pH – acidic or alkaline – but the soil type will effect the flower color. If you don’t care what color your flowers are, then you will accept the fact that your alkaline soil will give you pink blooms, but many people want hydrangeas for their bright blue color.
The pH scale goes from 0-14, with 7 being neither acidic nor alkaline – it is neutral. If your soil is naturally alkaline, or has a pH above 7, you can try adding an organic amendment to bring down the pH which may change your hydrangea flowers to blue.

I live in an area that has acidic soil naturally.  We can easily grow acid soil loving blueberries, rhododendrons, azaleas and other plants – including blue hydrangeas – without adding any amendments.   I have never used any products to create an acidic soil, but I’ve read about it and this is what I’ve learned.
If you buy a blue hydrangea and want it to grow blue flowers in your yard, check your soil’s pH – in the place you plan to plant them.  Any soil that is high in lime can cause pink blooms, and that means plants near the cement walls of a house could be growing in a more alkaline soil.

There are various ways to bring the pH down to the right levels.   Making an acidic soil mix for a pot is relatively easy, but changing the pH out in an area of your yard is much more difficult, and it will need constant monitoring.  It is not a permanent fix and could take weeks to achieve.
In general, organic type matter will help lower a pH. When starting a garden add organic compost, composted manure, and / or pine needles which all help lower the pH.  Also, you may want to buy a bag of garden sulfur and follow the directions for application on the bag.

If your soil is naturally alkaline, you will be fighting the elements to get those blue flowers.  It may work better to grow them in a pot, or learn to love hydrangeas that are pink.

Read more at this page:  How to Lower Your Soil’s pH and Turn Hydrangea Flowers Blue

Early Spring In My New England Garden

Here are some pictures of what is growing in my New England garden this time of year. April is early Spring and planting anything outdoors that is susceptible to frost, in this area, is not advised until at least late May. These are the perennials that are blooming or just beginning to grow.

Did you know that chives will come back each year?  I’ve already used some in my cooking, and the clump is looking good already.  I need to get parsley soon.  That has become one of my favorites for the garden, and it can take the cold.

The peonies and bleeding hearts are sending up shoots and the hostas are just pushing through the ground.  The Coral Bells kept many of it’s leaves and new ones are growing from the center.
Not much is happening with my hydrangeas yet, but the macrophyllas seem to be starting with leaves and growth more so than the paniculatas.
I had wanted this to be a slide show, but as usual, I can’t figure out how to make that happen. It seems that even though I use WordPress for most all my blogs, each theme works differently and I can’t see a slide show option for this one.
So enjoy the big photos instead.

lenton rose bush
Lenton Rose

chives
chives

Peony
Peony

perennial coral bells
Coral Bells

early spring flowers
Spring Promise “Emma”

I have some ♥ Blue Flower Pictures at a previous post.

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Spring Surprise – A New Little Hydrangea Plant!

As I uncovered the leaves from the base of the Blushing Bride hydrangea, I found that a couple of the branches had formed roots which will be new plants!  This form of ‘root layering’ or ‘ground layering’ is a great way to start a new shrub from an established one.

little hydrangea offshoot
Rooted Hydrangea Branch

It’s bare and spindly looking stems are curving out from the center and then upward and at least two of them were touching the ground enough to form roots. Now, new growth is showing beyond the roots which means I will have a couple of new little baby hydrangea plants!
I have propagated hydrangeas this way before, back when I lived in my rental house. I had found a rooted stem with big leaves and a flower that was growing separate from the main bush, so I dug it up and planted it near the front steps. You can read about how I did it on my Propagating Hydrangeas page about root layering.
So for now I will let the babies grow – attached to the main plant – until they get larger. I’ll probably dig them up in the Fall and find them a place to grow on their own.  I love to find free ways to landscape.  Isn’t that exciting?

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The First Flowers of Spring: Helloborus “Emma” Picture

early spring flowers
Spring Promise “Emma”

I have never grown a helleborus in my yard until this year. I bought two of this type of perennial last fall and put them out front.   I was looking for plants that like shade and these were in the shade lovers section at the nursery.

It’s late April as I write this and both the Lenton Rose and Spring Promise (pictured) have numerous flowers. The blooms tend to droop and face downward but the leaves stayed on all winter long! I did have to trim a few of the dead leaves to clean it up, but they do seem to be very hardy.

This one called “Emma” has such pretty flowers and the other one I planted has more greenish blooms. I’m glad I have added these to my landscape. It’s nice to go outside so early in the season up here in New England and see flowers! Not even my tulips have bloomed yet.