I have been in my new house a year and a half. Last Spring was really my 1st chance to really get alot done. The builder had planted Holly everywhere, and I just didn't want Holly's in my Flower Beds, So my DH dug all of them up for me and they were in 3 beds. Probably about 8 or more of them. I replaced them all with Hydrangea's. In one bed I have all Pink's and 2 of them did bloom for me. The other two were smaller and younger and did not. In the other 2 beds I put One red, One White(Sister Teresa) and One Nikko Blue. So I have 2 beds that I guess you can call them my patriotic flower beds. When I ordered them, they were very healthy when I got them and made it fine all thru the growing season, just no blooms. I figured that it was becuz they were so small. However I am seeing little sprouts coming out at the bottom of all of them now. The one's that were pink I am not so worried about, but does anyone know what it is I'm supposed to put on them to make them bloom the right color. The red one's which I had never seen before, I am wondering about. I know I have heard of putting something to change Pink to Blue and vice versa, but what about the red. These are supposed to be a true red, Cardinal Red,Beautiful! Any tips on what to do. Also, Last year 2 of the small pink one's leaves started turning a reddish color. Didn't seem to hurt them, but it just did not look normal and didn't grow as much as all of the others. Could they be getting too much sun from being so small. The 2 big one's right in the same bed didn't do that, but they did start getting black on the tips of the leaves. I went ahead and removed all of the stems w/black leaves and burned it in a pile. Any suggestions on this. I really want to have red,white, and blue Hydrangea's and I do not want my pink one's to die. Please Help! I am stumped on what to do, I can't even remember what to put to change pink to pink if it turned out blue, so please, I know one of you Genious's can HELP!!!!!
Thanks, Traci
Hydrangea Coloring ?'s
Traci, the little sprouts are probably new branches starting to come up. Remember that if you cut back the branches in the fall, you won't get any blooms because they flower on "old wood" Any pruning should be done immediately after they flower, and only if it's necessary.
The color of hydrangeas can be modified by soil - here's an entry in the Plants Database that gives a rundown of which kind of soil is needed to produce a certain color: http://plantsdatabase.com/go/146.html
These are gradual changes - they won't happen overnight, but you will see changes within the growing season.
Gardenology can help you with questions regarding your soil type and how to achieve a different soil pH - hope this helps!
This message was edited Saturday, Feb 16th 11:34 AM
Thanks alot and I will certainly go and read up on all of it!
You are a lifesaver!
Thanks again, Traci S