hydrangea saga

[lily51]

I fell in love with hydrangeas years ago from vacationing in coastal Carolina. All that beautiful blue. So I tried them up here in ohio. Not much luck with blue, but the pink is pretty too. I never tried altering the soil conditions, but was happy with what would grow in our clay.
Then came limelight. Love it! Hardy for our winters, beautiful blooms. Even have had one on the patio in a huge planter for 4 years.
A couple years ago I tried the everblooming blue variety in a bed by the walk. It bloomed, but bloomed pink. Much to my surprise, after our extremely cold and long winter, it came back healthier than ever
And is in full bloom in blue! Go figure!

[luis_pr]

Enjoy, lily51! Blue happens when the shrub can absorb naturally occuring aluminum. If the soil is defficient in aluminum then you get shades of pink. Or, if the soil has aluminum but the plant cannot absorb it because the pH is high then you also get shades of pink. Different areas of the yard can yeild different results (colors) too!

When you amend the soil with aluminum sulfate, you are correcting either of those problems. Do be careful of using a/s around azaleas and rhodies as they do not like a/s in large qtys (can kill them if it is high enough).

The first few years after planting, the roots may be still growing in the potting soil that the wholesaler used so the blooms' color will depend on whether the potting mix used was acidic (low pH) or not. As the roots grow out of the potting mix and into your garden soil, one can get a plethora of colors and shades of colors until the plant begins to get most of the nutrients from your garden soil instead. Then the color & shade should stabilize somewhat. Then there are some varieties that are extremely sensitive and within the same plant, you end with a bunch of colors.

I have to amend the soil to get my shades of purples; otherwise I get pinks. Except for the white macs, oakleafs and LL/paniculatas of course.

[lily51]

Thanks for the info . I knew that low pH was related to the blue color, but not that it allowed Al uptake. If my blues start going pink I'll add some aluminum sulfate.
There are so many varieties now I want one of each!