Hydrangea Macrophylla 'Galilee' Hardiness

[pinksand]

My mom was gifted a Macrophylla Hydrangea labeled 'Galilee.' The tag doesn't say anything about how hardy this cultivator is and I'm having trouble finding anything online. Most of what I find is general information about Macrophyllas. One site said hardy to zone 8 while another said zone 6. I know that my 'Endless Summer' is a macrophylla and should be hardy to zone 6, but I just can't find much about 'Galilee.'

[skiingjeff]

This appears to be a relatively new cultivar. I found the patent and it noted that it belongs to Bay City flowers in CA. They have a website with a contact area: https://www.baycityflower.com/retailers/contact.html

I would ask them about the plant as I only found it indicated as a "houseplant" which does not tell you much.

Good luck with your search

[luis_pr]

Galilee is the result of crossing Mathilda Gutges and Trube Blue, producing a plant with stronger stems, bigger flowers and deeper blue tone (in acidic soils). As such, I would expect the usual winter hardiness of Zone 6 (from Mom and Dad).

Re: "one said hardy to zone 8"... note that some sites generalize hardiness for a-l-l macrophyllas in the world by saying they are hardy to Zone 8 (others say Zone 7). Some of the less hardy varieties are the Teller Hybrids from Europe/Switzerland and these usually have a Zone 7 hardiness. So double check by calling since, I guess, you are probably a Zone 6 or 6b'er, no?

[pinksand]

Thank you both! I'm zone 7a (in my signature) so if it's hardy to zone 6 that would be great. I passed the contact info on to my mom so she can give them a call. The current color is stunning and I'm not sure what the pH of the soil is at my parents house so it will be interesting to see if it changes.

[luis_pr]

If you had a soil pH meter that gives readings in numbers (as opposed to color changes in a liquid solution), I would test the potting mix to see what soil pH it has. Then if the color changes to a shade you do not like, you can amend the soil until you get the soil pH back to the original reading of the potting mix.