Blue Hydrangea

is it unusual to get a deep purple hydranga?

as i mentioned before, it is because of the dog weeing in that place that it has turned really dark purple, when i first planted that hydranga i planted it at the bottom of the garden , well out of the way of the dog and it was always pink, but now it is as dark purple as can be .

i havent seen one anywhere as dark as my one.

 

A neighbours Alsation killed my hydranger by peeing on it every day,I wonder if it found another one to kill because it left my garden alone afterwards.

 

What a gorgeous color!

 

its ages since i posted on this site ,and my white hydrangea that i planted into the garden did turn out to be sky blue last year, and i am hoping that it has survived the cold winter and will give me a good show this year as it has grown a lot bigger now

 

[size=large]Well done to the dog, then!

[/size]

 

I made a post last year regarding adding nails/iron to Hydrangea. it was a tip i got from my father, when i was a lad (that was not yesterday)!!. As He preferred the Blue colour he would always add iron nails etc when planting or replanting Hydrangea's. Two years ago when digging some of the garden ,i found an old ships Rivet in the ground.( how a very large ships rivet got there i havn't a clue)
I placed this at the bottom of the roots of one of the Hydrangea i was repositioning . last year when it flowered
it was a Deep Blue . Previously this Hydrangea was a Pale Pink. :D.

 

Remember it is not just all hydrangens that are effected by Ph but only a select genus with in the class of Hydrangens.

Again read below:

Blue Hydrangea
This is pasted from Heronswood Nursery, my favorite Hydrangea source. Recall reading this years ago--point is only certain species of Hydrangea are affected by soil pH.

No matter their nativity, Hydrangeas in general are woodland understory plants and thrive in moist but well-drained soils amended with organic matter (humus, leaf mold, compost).
Most species tolerate a range of pH conditions. However, the H. macrophylla and H. serrata cultivars are unique for their flower color being determined by the relative acidity of the soil: a pH below 6 (acidic) will usually produce flower color closer to true blue, whereas a pH above 6 (more alkaline) will produce flowers more pink. Add aluminum sulfate to soil to make flowers bluer or add lime to soil to make flowers pinker (apply to plant root zone in late autumn or early spring). If your soil is already extremely acidic (pH 5.5 or lower) or extremely alkaline (pH 7 or above), it might be very difficult or impossible to change pH sufficiently to change the flower color of your hydrangea.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hello hydrangea lovers!

What I did last summer, was to soak the peels of two lemons in 500 ml* of tepid water for over 12 hours and water one of my blooming macrophylla shrubs with the same concentration every day. The shrub already had some bluish flowers on it, but most of it was pink.

The pH value in this area of my garden is 6.6, which is just slightly acid.

This was the bluest shade I could get:



This season I will be more persistent and try adding pine tree needles around the roots. My place is full of pine trees (but not ships rivets ).

-------------

* As I live in Sofia, Bulgaria, I appologise if ml of water confuses you. Say what measurements are most convenient, and I'll try to convert mine. It's about 2 1/2 teacups.

 

RE: Blue Hydrangea
Remember it is not just all hydrangens that are effected by Ph but only a select genus with in the class of Hydrangens.

Again read below:

Blue Hydrangea
This is pasted from Heronswood Nursery, my favorite Hydrangea source. Recall reading this years ago--point is only certain species of Hydrangea are affected by soil pH.

No matter their nativity, Hydrangeas in general are woodland understory plants and thrive in moist but well-drained soils amended with organic matter (humus, leaf mold, compost).
Most species tolerate a range of pH conditions. However, the H. macrophylla and H. serrata cultivars are unique for their flower color being determined by the relative acidity of the soil: a pH below 6 (acidic) will usually produce flower color closer to true blue, whereas a pH above 6 (more alkaline) will produce flowers more pink. Add aluminum sulfate to soil to make flowers bluer or add lime to soil to make flowers pinker (apply to plant root zone in late autumn or early spring). If your soil is already extremely acidic (pH 5.5 or lower) or extremely alkaline (pH 7 or above), it might be very difficult or impossible to change pH sufficiently to change the flower color of your hydrangea.