Container gardening, North Vancouver, southwest balcony I am preparing to plant this endless summer bloom struck Hydrangea macrophylla into the pictured container which I drilled holes into for drainage. I would like to have blue blooms if possible (aiming high! Just keeping it alive will be a challenge, black thumb) I am looking for advice on potting mixture I have available: Promix container potting mix Sphagnum peat moss All purpose sand Sea soil container complete compost What ratios of above do you recommend? Or should I purchase some other medium to pot it in? Thanks in advance!
I am very familiar with this series I have great success with Blushing Bride in a regular garden near you The Collection | Endless Summer Firstly - hydrangea are generally speaking - a bit of sun begin or end of day and very happy 10-3 pm in shade with food and some well-drained moisture. My blushing bride is well tended but it sags and droops in mid day hot sun heat direct angle. Then 3pm and we have lots of shade. This one I have grows quite large tho I know the wholesale shows pictures of it in pots. I take it back to about 12” each February. Do you have a water tray for UNDER your pot? And wheels? It’s worth it. what capacity is the nice pot you’ve bought? It looks like resin plastic so that is good for north shore winter. Good you’ve got drain holes - which should be size of Cdn dime minimum BLUE - my awareness is that Endless Summer series - each is bred to be a certain color so ideally you have chosen the blue one at the professional plant nursery . see official website link above. SOIL - baffles me with all the options I am no expert. Ask your professional plant store which one for condo tower potted hydrangea with sun and warmth in summer FOOD - gentle food - WATER - well hydrangeas will show their discomfort and thirst ! All droopy leaves. I look fwd to updates.
Thank you for the info! The container is 16 inches diameter. Have a drip tray and caddy to move it around wrt to sun/shade
Here is how Endless Summer Blushing Bride looked last Sept 23/19 That’s Coleus in the container on the left It’s pale and sparse tho that’s what I like in my “look” So if you like blue - then make sure you bought the blue one I hear good things about the Maple Leaf plant nursery on North Shore. (I don’t own it or work there ). Maybe they can help you choose a decent soil for all the effort it takes to get upstairs to your balcony :) In a diff thread here today - about lavender - we talked about Sea Soil —- I like it tho make sure you get the exact variation for YOUR specific purpose. (I don’t own or work there). Have a look here (link) SEA SOIL Products Also - don’t feed your hydrangea in the autumn winter. It dies back and is supposed to — by Feb you will see fat and healthy little leaf nodes about to emerge .... assuming you are sheltered from winds on your balcony — get ready to feed some gentle low numbers fertilizer cuz it’s springtime! ... look at the Endless Summer website for guidance. Water in heat season that is even and daily but not soggy will be a huge asset
Ah now I get why you were asking about changing your bloom colours... apparently your plant has the capacity to vary like the original old granny garden big leaf hydrangeas BloomStruck® Bigleaf Hydrangea | Endless Summer I don’t mean granny garden disrespectfully - it’s a fun part of growing up in BC pulp mill townsites of a certain era and whichever way the wind blew dealt a good hand (or not) for ones rented garden — and pretty much anywhere on the coast - a hydrangea can grow - I bet there are old gardens that still have cuttings from Ocean Falls or Port Alice or someone’s traditional farm out in the Valley. People would trade cuttings because there were no roads in some of these places like port Alice — leading to a very unified townsite-wide garden design approach! Now of course we have the luxury of garden centres we drive to . I have seen kits at the garden Centers for hydrangea color - I have never used one ——I would phone /email either that Maple Leaf mentioned above (2 north shore locations) or the other one nr 2nd Narrows (ironworkers) bridge called Dykhof (spell?) Oh look - some resource info on the Endless Summer website Container Gardening with Hydrangeas | Endless Summer EDIT - this is the exact product I’ve seen but never used Color Me Pink or Blue | Endless Summer
