The hydrangeas are blooming and brightening the shady spots in the garden! Of the 16 we have all but two are blooming now.
I did a few experiments when I pruned last year. I pruned this Endless Summer quite a bit because of frost damage and it bloomed even more than usual but with very small flowers…which I love! The unpruned Endless Summer plants have the usual larger blooms.
This Blushing Bride has become kind of thin, instead of bushy like the rest, so guess it will need to be pruned back next time to encourage a little filling out. The blooms, however, are beautiful!
Presiosa always has a vivid bloom…love this one…
And, my favorite, Buttons & Bows, has just a few flowers as usual. Not sure why it is never covered with bloom like the others. It used to get too much sun so we built a shade structure….and the same result…oh well, what it gives is beautiful!
Red Star is a very dependable bloomer even though it gets a little sun damage occasionally. An east exposure is usually good for hydrangeas but our stucco house heats things up a little too much on really hot days.
My experiment with “acid to blue” didn’t work. The directions said apply in spring and again in 8 weeks…I did it in April and was ready to do it in June but they’d already bloomed pink by then! I’ll try again next year, but this time fertilize with liquid acid food…read somewhere that works better. Pink is nice though and the plant in healthy though only blooming on the bottom? Not sure why that happened since it was covered with blooms last year and I didn’t prune it…
And finally a new plant is blooming in the garden. Pistachio is a little different with the mixed pink/green coloring….not sure it’s my favorite but it hasn’t had a chance to grow much yet….may be a winner!
Walking through the hydrangeas early in the morning is my favorite way to start the day!
Do you have a favorite hydrangea? Any tips you can share? Please do!
Next month I’m looking forward to touring a garden with over 200 hydrangeas grown by a Master Gardener… I’ll be sharing!
Photos copyright Donna Jones.
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