I've lived in this house for 25 years. I have never successfully grown a lush, BLUE hydrangea. I've given up trying to grow them in the soil. This year I went to pots. I bought two huge containers and asked the advice of two garden shops on which ones would be guaranteed blue, fading to burgundy. They both said, get one that's a macrophylia, no special name, just blue mopheads. I did that, put them at the foot of my front steps and waited for my beautiful, finally, blue, blue hydrangea to bloom. Well, they came out pink! Not only are they pink, but they're not mopheads either, they are those fancy ones. I kept the tags, so I could have taken them back. But, frustrated, I didn't want to wrestle them back into my low-slung car, as they are now quite large. sigh. I stop and stare at others yards that have blue/purple mopheads and marvel that they can grow them. I have run out of options. Any ideas?
with hydrangeas you may be able to adjust coloring with a pH change. Blue is acid soil, pink is alkaline. you can add appropriate products to adjust your pH and attempt to change the color of blooms. doesnt do a thing for bloom shape (mophead, lace cap) though, sorry.
blue about your hydrangeas Hi how ya doing, Is there any chance one of your neighbors would let you take a few cuttings they strike pretty easily, just make sure that the planting soil is acid and you should get the show of colour you want. Darren Hale
A standard nursery and home gardening practice is to add some aluminum sulfate into the soil to turn a pink Hydrangea into a blue colored one. It may take 2-3 light applications (1oz) to force the color change. Use superphosphate to change a blue Hydrangea into a pink or a red one. Apply superphosphate in liberal amounts (2oz) during the growing season to keep the Hydrangeas pink or red also. The above fertilizers must be applied well in advance of bloom to achieve the desired color results. Jim
