Coloring Hydrangeas

photo bytanakawho / CC BY 2.0

The former tenant in my apartment left her plants in the backyard, so in Spring I had pots full of sprouting plants but I had no idea what each plant was. I immediately recognized the 2 pots of hydrangeas that began sprouting pretty early in the spring, and one of the pots still contained dried hydrangea flowerheads from last year.

Hydrangeas are amazing: the flowers on the plant change color in reaction to their environment!

Soil that is heavy in aluminum will produce plants with blue flowers. Alkaline soil produces pink or purple flowers. A pH neutral soil will produce white flowers, which is the most common.

I've heard this story before: a person buys a blue hydrangea bush in bloom from a garden center and transplants it into her front yard. The next Spring, the flowers are suddenly blooming white! It's because the plant has moved to a new environment, and the flowers have adjusted themselves accordingly.

Normally, if you want to force blue hydrangeas in your front yard, it's pretty difficult to dig up and replace all the soil in your yard to produce this effect. But here in FarmTina land, where all of my plants are growing in containers, I can easily play around with altering the color of my flowers.

The one thing I can't adjust is the intensity of the color. This is mostly a reaction to the weather, mixed in with the genes of the plant. An alkaline soil can nudge the plant to produce pink flowers, but they may be anywhere from pale pastel pink to brilliant magenta.

<-- Here are my hydrangeas right now. They should begin blooming pretty soon!

I've been wondering: Could I plant hydrangeas in soil beds along with my vegetables and use the hydrangea color as a soil pH indicator? I bought a fancy soil tester so I can test my soil and adjust the N P K and pH levels for maximum health and production. Maybe next year, I'll sell the fancy soil tester on eBay, plant hydrangeas in each vegetable bed and adjust the soil according to the color of the hydrangea flower!

Does that sound reliable?

Comments

[crafting a home]

Martina, I love your blog! This is exciting and inspiring. Just moved to a house with a pretty established garden, including some lovely hydrangeas and I was wondering what color they would be. I'm hoping white, go PH Neutral!

kim

[Marcia]

Thanks so much for the info about chameleon weeds! I thought my hydrangea multiplying itself was too good to be true. I am heading out now to pull those pesky imposters.

[bonnie]

First year growing Gydrana Bush. It is planted in a large cemente pot. Will it be ok to leave it in that or shuld i plant it in tge ground.

[Martina Fugazzotto]

Hi Bonnie, very excited for your first year! The hydrangea plant should be ok in the cement pot, but it will grow larger each year so you might want to think about transplanting it to the ground in a few years. If you want to keep it in the pot, you can prune the plant to keep it small-- do it before the hydrangea begins to bloom, in late winter juuuuust before spring approaches.

Good luck! Keep me updated!

[Skoko]

they root easily..mine took ptecanie, a pop bottle as a greenhouse untill it was strong enough to live without it.You can get attached to plants grown from seeds or cuttings, willing them to grow some more... Hanna,I hope my cutting grows into a big mama hydrangea who roots easily.My experience now is do the cuttings in the spring, not summer.I was fighting against the plants natural growth cycle... UK Bob I have not eaten it yet.It will be lunch today.I have sniffed the wines frequently, but the expectation is driving me mad.Six months is ages...

[Joan]

Hi yaNice to see someone hviang success with hydrangea cuttings. Can you tell me what time of year you made your cutting? I hope your hydrangea is doing well. I have recently discovered white hydreangeas big time and bought a beautiful one called "Juliana." If I knew what a blog was or how to work this thing I would send you a photo of this breathtaking and sensational flower. You sound like very nice people up there.cheersJohn RohsChristchurchNew Zealand