Garden, Growing Flowers – Hydrangeas Blue

A Blue and A Lavender Flower

flowering hydrangea shrub — Endless Summer – Year 2

Last summer I planted this Endless Summer hydrangea variety in my front yard. This year it is larger and has bigger flowers. All flowers are blue except one which began as lavender and is now pink. You can see it in my photo here, on the right, lower side of the plant.

I guess my issue with this macrophylla type of plant is that the flowers are often hidden by the big leaves. It’s also called a “big leaf” hydrangea.

The one with big white flowers is also hiding the beautiful blooms. I hope that in time, as the plants age and get stronger stems, that the flowers will show up better.

The plants are nice and healthy looking so I expect improvement each summer. This type will only be around 4 feet across. They don’t get really huge, to my knowledge.

Watching This White Hydrangea Flower Turn Green

As you can see in my photos below, the hydrangea flower on the plant named “Blushing Bride” is going through a change to green as it ages.

It started off white, then began showing cream or ivory colored petals mixed with the white. Now it’s taking on a definite greenish appearance.

However, if your soil alkalinity is different from mine, your Blushing Bride flower may be pink or blue. This is one type of hydrangea which has flowers that will be various colors according to the type of soil.

hydrangea shrub in garden — Recently planted Blushing Bride shrub with new flower just beginning to grow (top).

White flower hydrangea — Ivory colored petals beginning to show.

green hydrangea flower — Now the white flower is turning green.

Pictures of Hydrangea Flowers (newenglandsnarrowroad.wordpress.com)
What’s Up With This Hydrangea? (thesalemgarden.com)
The Blushing Bride is Taking Off! (hydrangeasblue.wordpress.com)

The Blushing Bride is Taking Off!

large white hydrangea flower — This is a BIG bloom

I didn’t know what to expect from my newly planted hydrangeas this year, and I am pleasantly surprised!
All types – Limelight, Endless Summer, Pinky Winky, Pee Gee and this gorgeous Blushing Bride, are flowering.

The Blushing Bride shrub must really love the dirt it’s growing in, because it is taking off. The leaves are large; the plant is sturdy and healthy looking, and the flowers are huge – this one is nearly 10 inches across. I am not doing anything differently with this plant than all the others.

I had to get the tape measure out to show the actual size of this bloom. The white petals are mixed with some pink and green now. It will be fun to watch how the colors change as the flowers age.

The Endless Summer’s blue flowers are really pretty, but only half as large. That poor plant got flattened early on by a freak rain storm we had. Apparently it’s not as sturdy as it’s sister with the white flowers.

I will be working on some new wedding stationery using photos of this flower and getting them up soon in my online store.

“Blushing Bride” The White Hydrangea (hydrangeasblue.wordpress.com)
Bloom Hydrangeas, Bloom !!! (hydrangeasblue.wordpress.com)
Taking Hydrangea Flower Cuttings (hydrangeasblue.wordpress.com)

Planning a Garden Landscape That Includes Hydrangeas

Most people love to see a variety of color in a flower garden. Along with the mix of sizes and shapes of shrubbery, getting colors to pop and draw the eye to a visual treat is most important.

This is not easy to do and you must know a bit about every type of flower being grown. Flower garden landscape design is very interesting.

(All photos on this page are courtesy of Pixabay.)

Cottage garden landscape with blooming flowers of all colors and sizes

Monarda, or Bee Balm, plants have tall, brightly colored flowers that attract bees.

Hydrangeas can stand alone and be wonderful, but imagine them as the focal point in a diverse garden setting.

When planting a tiered garden, with taller shrubs in the back, let hydrangeas be the mid-level plant (buy a type that doesn’t get super tall), with short annuals or perennials in front.

garden path flowering landscape shrubs — Beautiful garden path

A word of caution about Monarda – it spreads, so if you don’t want it growing all over, plant it in a big pot to keep the roots contained.

tall flowering monarda bush with bright pink flowers — This Monarda was growing in my yard in New England

I also like the idea of adding interesting grasses beneath the hydrangea, but be careful you don’t disturb the roots and remember that the more you plant the more water the plants will drink.

Dainty, waving cosmos flowers are a wonderful addition to any garden. Their pink and white colors would offset a blue hydrangea nicely.

It will depend on where you live as to what you can plant. I now live in Florida so my one hydrangea plant grows beneath a large shrub near other tropical plantings.

Florida hydrangea garden perennial Spring — Hydrangea growing in my Florida yard

Tier Planting, Choosing the Tall Perennials

English: phlox — Image via Wikipedia - white Phlox

Planting against a fence, house, stone wall, around a post, or even a drop off, may require tier planting with larger perennials planted in the back and rows of shorter shrubs in front. I’ve been thinking about this since I have many areas of my yard that will need sprucing up with colorful, flowering plants and greenery.

So what can we use for our back row, which will have to be filled with the tallest plants? It’s a tricky question when beginning a garden because most plants will take a few years to reach the desired height. My favorite choices for the back row of a tiered garden are tall phlox, coneflowers, lilies and monarda (bee balm).

Take into consideration the background – will they be planted against a white fence, or a wood one? Choose colors accordingly as white phlox will stand out against a darker color, but may not show up well if the fence is white.

Also consider the amount of sun the garden will receive. If it gets very little to none, choose other flowers that will bloom in the shade.

I want lots of color in my garden and I want it to attract wildlife such as hummingbirds and other birds that will eat the bugs. Good red choices are Monarda and coneflowers. Monarda will grow fast, and spread. Coneflowers will take longer, but can also get quite tall and their seeds are loved by chickadees and gold finches in Fall.

Learn the colors of the different varieties and choose the ones you prefer and that will compliment your garden best.

English: A female ruby-throated hummingbird (A... — Image via Wikipedia - Hummingbird and Monarda

More Pictures of Blue Hydrangeas

Photography of pretty blue hydrangea flowers growing on the shrub.

I am looking forward to growing my own hydrangeas, now that I have my own home. My only experience has been in the yard at my rental house, where I was less than enthusiastic about gardening. However, that is where I discovered my love for the hydrangea shrub and the beautiful blue flowers it produces.

A small, blue hydrangea flower. I like this picture (above) because the edges of the petals are brownish which give the flower a look of being outlined. I don’t know why they are like that, but I thought it was unusual.

Blue hydrangea shrub — Blue Hydrangea shrub in bloom

This photo was taken just before I moved out of my rental. As you can see, the shrub has lots of flowers, but they are fairly small and more of a light blue than a deep blue.

I lived at the rental house in New Hampshire for three years, so I was able to photograph these flowers in various stages of growth and color. It seemed that each year they did something different!

That is the fun part of watching a hydrangea bush bloom, especially this variety which can give you blooms that are large or small, bright or light in color. And they will change color as Fall approaches. In fact, watching what happens to theses plants in Fall is exciting, and has given me some wonderful photos of unique flower colors.
(All photography on this page is mine and is NOT free to use.)