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| "P.G." HYDRANGEA |
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| A GREEN-FLOWERED HYDRANGEA |
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| ANOTHER VARIATION OF THE "PG" |
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| A TREE-LIKE HYDRANGEA |
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| HYDRANGEA 'VANILLA STRAWBERRY" |
Wednesday (posted Tuesday evening due to an early morning appointment). The weather has been very warm and humid and it appears that will be the case most of Wednesday, with the possibility of a thunderstorm in the afternoon, which would clear the air. The late evening ferry is blowing its fog horn as this is being written, so the channel must be foggy.
Late summer and into fall is when Hydrangeas are most prominent in the landscape, most species and varieties having large panicles of colorful flowers, ranging from white to pink to blue and even green. Hydrangeas can be so overwhelming in the landscape that they may be hard to use, but depending upon landscape design and personal tastes they can be a dramatic and beautiful addition. I think of them mostly as accent plants, which must be used with care. Most modern Hydrangeas are hybrids, and almost none are native.
Hydrangea arborescens is native to the lower Midwest and southern US, and
H. quercifolia to the southern US. Most other Hydrangea species, which are in the Saxifrage (
Saxifragaceae) Family are native to Asia. Modern hydrangeas are mostly hardy, and easy to grow.
Hydrangeas are known for their ability to change flower color under different soil conditions, mainly by the control of pH and the presence or absence of aluminum in the soil. In theory at least, pink blooms can be changed to blue with the application of aluminum sulphate (lowering pH), and blue blooms can be changed to pink by fertilizing with lime and phosphorous (raising pH). In practice it is not so easy, unless the plants are grown in a greenhouse, in pots.
Bottom line: Hydrangeas are easy fun, but can be hard to use.
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