Category: Hydrangeas

Experimenting With A Climbing Hydrangea

potted hydrangea plants
New Hydrangea Plants -bought in 2012

I don’t have a picture of one, but maybe one day I will – the climbing hydrangea will be something new to play with this summer.

From what I’ve read about the climbing hydrangea (and there are many types – and I am researching which one I may want), is that it is a hardy perennial and gets very large. Anyone wanting a climbing hydrangea will need a very sturdy structure for it to cling to.

I had never thought about trying to grow this type, but my new house has a tall, ugly tree trunk in the side yard. I can only guess that the tree broke off in our horrific ice storm a few years ago and left this part of the trunk standing. Fortunately the tree broke away from the house because it was one very big tree and parts of the top are laying in the woods near the base.

But, I think it may be a good spot to grow a climbing hydrangea. The area will get some sun, but not much and that is my main concern. If climbing hydrangeas need sun, it won’t see much until it begins to climb the tree.

I called a local nursery yesterday to ask if they have the climbing hydrangeas and they do! It’s the House By The Side of The Road in Wilton, NH and it’s the same place I bought my 6 new plants last Spring around Mother’s Day, which is a great time to shop for the newest selection of hydrangeas.

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Mothers Day is The Time to Shop For Hydrangeas

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Finally — it’s hydrangea buying time – almost.  In May it seems that the stores and nurseries get their shipments of hydrangeas in just in time for Mother’s Day. So the weekend and week just before the holiday is an excellent time to shop for hydrangeas.

Last year was the first time I had bought the plants myself.  That’s the Endless Summer blue in my picture and it did give me some very pretty light blue flowers. My yard is still in desperate need of landscaping, but it should be in better shape this year once my plants come into bloom.   Last season I had hoped to find a variety of colors to choose from and I was not disappointed!

Last May I bought six hydrangea plants at The House By The Side of The Road in Wilton, New Hampshire and I only stopped there (at six) because my cart was full!

They offered a wide selection to choose from and all of them looked very lush and healthy.  I expected to pay a lot since hydrangeas are popular flowers, but the pricing was reasonable I thought and ranged from $29.99 to $36.99 each and they were large plants.

hydangeas in pots
Newly purchased hydrangeas in pots

I have a lot of shade in my yard, but fortunately hydrangeas can take the shade – as long as they do get some sun.  So this is the year I will see just how well they took to spending winter in my yard.

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Buying Blue Hydrangeas For the Landscape

When buying a blue hydrangea be sure your soil is acidic enough to keep it flowering blue.

Spring is coming, and if you are already dreaming of shopping for a great landscape perennial, a beautiful addition to any garden includes the bright blue flowers of the Mophead hydrangeas.
Often hydrangeas are at nurseries by the bucket load in spring, just in time for Mother’s Day.

Hydrangeas bloom in July and beyond (in northern climates), so that means most likely they will not have open blooms in May. You’ll have to trust the tag for the information as to the type and color of the flower.

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Macrophylla Varieties Have Color-changing Flowers

The trouble with trying to buy a blue hydrangea is that even if it is blue in it’s container it may change color in the ground.

pink and blue hydrangea flowers
Sometimes you’ll see both pink and blue flowers on the same bush (photo credit: Pixabay)

All blue flowering hydrangeas are of the macrophylla variety, sometimes called the mopheads. You’ve no doubt heard of the Nikko Blue and Endless Summer which can have blue flowers.   They are sold as blue-flowering, but if your soil is not acidic enough, the flowers will be more pink.

Potted plants are grown in special soil which is more controlled as to it’s alkaline and acidity levels. Yard dirt can vary widely in acidity.  In New England the soil tends to be acidic, so my blue hydrangeas truly bloomed blue.

Macrophylla Flowers Are Round, Paniculata Flowers Are Elongated

The flower color change can only happen with the macrophylla variety hydrangeas. The paniculatas – like my Pinky Winky – do not change color no matter what type of soil they grow in.

To guarantee a blue flowering shrub, first test your soil. Buy a do-it-yourself test kit to find out if your soil has the right acidity to create blue blooms.
A pH below 6 means you should have blue flowers. If it’s above 6, plan on pink ones.

If your soil is too alkaline to grow blue flowering hydrangeas, consider growing them in a big pot where you can control the soil’s pH and get the color you want.  This is tougher to do in the ground.

What to Add to Soil to Make it More Acidic

To get blue flowering hydrangeas a soil acidifier must be added to the ground. Something organic (I am an organic gardener) can be purchased. Carefully follow the directions, and add as often as the package recommends. Additions to the ground will not last. Rain will wash away the changes, so it must be done consistently.

Other natural ways to create acidic soil may not be enough to create blue flowers all the time, but you can try watering the plant with something acidic mixed with water. I used to pour pickle juice on my gardenia plants. Vinegar in water is another choice.  I’ve never done this to my hydrangeas, so you may want to look into it more.

Lime lowers Ph (you want a lower Ph for blue flowers) and Sulfer raises Ph.

My Trouble With The Pee Gee

white flowers pee gee
Little Pee Gee

When I bought six hydrangea shrubs this past Spring, one of them was a Pee Gee (paniculata – Grandiflora). The tag said that it wanted some shade so after some thought, I ended up putting it at the edge of the yard near some big trees that would shade it partially. I didn’t know that it would bloom that first year but it did and had some very dainty, very white flowers at the ends of it’s long stems.

The flowers were pretty, but they drooped to the ground and we got lots of heavy rain after that which beat the bush down flat almost. By the time summer was over, the shrub was not looking too good. It has many, long thin branches that left the leaves lying in the dirt.

I ended up giving it a pruning and I don’t know Continue reading “My Trouble With The Pee Gee”

The Ever Changing Hydrangea Flower – August Blooms

many colored flowers on the blushing bride shrub
Many colored blooms on Blushing Bride.

Hydrangeas could be called the great, morphing flower.  From the time they bloom in June and July until Fall arrives, the flowers undergo amazing and wondrous changes.

My white flowering “Blushing Bride” is showing some unusual color combos as it ages.  The once all-white huge flower is now mostly green with some pink on each petal.  On the same bush, I have a white flower that seems to be changing to light blue, and some smaller, light green blooms.

By this time of year, late summer, any hydrangea shrub which had held bright blue flowers now has odd-colored blooms that no longer resemble the pretty blue.

It’s not really a bad thing, but the coloring is a bit hard to categorize.  It’s a combo of green, purple, pink and maybe some blue tint still left.  I suppose it depends on your garden dirt.

That is the thing about hydrangeas.  They are never dull.  Even as they age they can still be very interesting and lovely.

green hydrangea flower

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Limelight: A Beautifully Named Hydrangea

budding limelight hydrangea flower
New Flower on the Limelight

I’ve never grown the Limelight hydrangea nor been around any of the shrubs. I purchased two of this type bush in Spring this year and planted them in front of my house.

Figuring that they would need this summer to grow good roots and become hardy, I didn’t expect flowers, so what a nice surprise to see them begin budding!
Sure enough, more and more little round petals began to form and now both bushes are filled with the elongated, lacey looking flowers. I expect that as the flowers age they will become more green. I am very happy with these healthy looking plants. I highly recommend the Limelight hydrangea as a perennial planting for your yard.

white limelight hydrangea flowers
Lacey white Limelight flowers

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