Blue Mophead Hydrangea

I was placing an order for a few Mopheads shrubs and darn near ordered two Endless Summer when I received an e-mail from The Botany Shop that was very interesting. The e-mail came in all caps so don't get mad at me because I'm just cutting and pasting it as it was sent to me-

Don't know anything about David Ramsey, man those Endless Summer were EVERYWHERE last year. $28 - are they like 3G.
I should use some Alum sulfate on my Nikko Pinks this year. Was hoping coffee grounds could do it , but not acidic enuf really.
Really a bit cold here for macropyll's.

Al, Know of an "endless summer" about 2 mi away, south exposure with house behind. Definate 3b up here, with lots of snow cover. Planted last year, we'll see if it makes it. Nice blue color when I saw it in late july early August. Ken

I don't know 'David Ramsey' either, but I think you received some bad info. A plant patent, unlike a trade name, applies to the plant, not the name. If a plant has a patent, then all genetically identical material fall under the protection of the patent. Something stinks here and I think you should pursue a clarification.

Regarding colors, what's wrong with letting the poor plant bloom in whatever shade it wishes? There's nothing wrong with pink unless you want to give it a masculine identity. IMHO, people who tinker with soil pH to influence flower color, instead of merely to keep a plant healthy and vigorous, have too much free time! Just be happy that it can flower on new wood and blooms at all in these northern areas.

Finally, mopheads are gauche anyway. Lacecaps are the truly refined members of the H. family. Same with viburnums. Right, Ventrodorsal Vertebra?

;-)

Guy S.

Actually you get me a colored panniculata and I'll burn all my macropyll's and arborecens(sp)
Such a better plant for me

Making a noise like the "tool time guy".

O Lauren,
I blacked out for a while, I actually have Dirr's Hydrangea book from the library here, I tried to scan some pages - too bloody big to send clear.
"David Ramsey is listed aka Endless Summer -Decatur Blue, Oak Hill, And Penny Mac he questioned their uniqueness also. Tests showed that DR and ES were genetic equivilents."
so there you are
Al

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/plant/#1

After having read information from the above site, my guess would be that 'David Ramsey' was cultivated before the patent was procured so it can't be sold as 'Endless Summer'. They most probably are genetically identical. I can see it happening.

Best to ask Hydrangea people what really happened. Is anyone a member of any Hydrangea Society out there?

And I've read that adding too much aluminum sulfate to the soil can cause all sorts of problems. I've forgotten the details, but I think the aluminum ties up other minerals, or perhaps increases salts. Something like that. Adding sulfur is the way to lower pH. But, overall, I agree with Guile. If you've got the time and money to change the color of hydrangea flowers, then just buy a can of spray paint. AND, lacecaps all the way, baby!

Scott

Lauren,
from Dirr's book I think that might be the case, you know **ducking** the Hydrangea Forum is a bit slow here(sorry)

Sheesh, I didn't even know we had a Hydrangea forum here!

I have no idea what color my Mopheads will ultimately bloom but I'm in the acidic range where I was planning on sticking them in the ground so no need to resort to Miracid or aluminum sulfate or sulfur or vinegar for that matter. Come to think of it, I don't think Miracid would work anyway. Here's hoping my Mopheads grow big and strong.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/93784/

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/93789/

here's some of my sad macropylll's

my pH is 7.3

These comments compliments of member Peony01

Well I love lacecaps also but the mopheads are the ones you can dry for arrangements and make such fabulous color combinations...no can do with the lacecaps. I love them both.

What do you mean by dry for arrangements?

In October (when they are sort of crispy) you can cut them and put them in an arrangement or just a vase by themselves~~~no water necessary. They remain all of those wonderful colors all winter...pinks, turquoise. lime green, purple etc. This taken today and cut last October.

I did not know you could do that with those. That is really neat. I just ordered my Mopheads from the Botany Shop and won't even receive them for a few months so I'll probably have to wait a few years before I hack away at them but what a great arrangement for an end table or coffee table that would not fall apart inside of 2 weeks. That's pretty wild that it is still whole after this many months and that the color is still true.

Thanks for posting that photo!

Now you see that's no fair, zone 7 has all the fun. Any that bloom zone 5 or less dry to a uniform "old musty book page" ivory/yellow. Ken

I think I stepped on someone. Sorry if I scared you away.
Now this is not fair zone 7 has all the fun. Anything of the mophead variety I ever saw dried was a uniform " old musty book page " ivory/yellow color that reminded me of the scene in the old car within the storage locker in the movie "silence of the lambs". Ken

Ken,
are you trying to slide in with us zone 5 now, what are you a 2 or 3?

My man, I am actually zone3b, and getting warmer as we write.

Hey Ken- Oh shoot, forget that D-Mail I sent you that these bloom on old and new wood. I totally forgot you were a zone 3/4 and I knew that! I am sorry. When mine grow big and strong, I'll send you cuttings to put in a vase. Looks as if they'd make it in the mail to your house. Really sorry about that D-Mail, didn't mean to torment you with something you can't grow up there.

3b, what's is your low for the year?

BTW - Lauren I am assuming you are buying one of each then?

Past cold snap, when your were inside doing the funky chicken and sweating all over your beautiful partner, we were -25, but with the wind, (drum roll here) -36.

Nope, sorry to disappoint you Al but I am cheap. I bought 2 of the 'David Ramsey'. I passed on the 'Endless Summer' which was considerably more expensive. The DNA is the same so I get a rebloomer that might be blue.

OK just checking

Effervescent:

Nope, Melvin is a big boy but he likes silk flower arrangements exclusively. He shreds them to bits so we try to have a few available at all times for his shredding pleasure. The bad boys are Dexter and Tyson, they'll go for any plant material and I just lost 3 VFTs to one of them. At only ages 7 & 8, they're young and agile enough where they go all over the place like Quercus does- nothing is sacred over here with them. Elliott will destroy anything that he can get to which isn't much because he's too old and too generously proportioned to jump much higher than a chair or sofa these days- will wonders never cease. The others are far too old or senile to do much of anything these days.

Oh Melvin is adoreable and he thinks you are crazy for giving him all those dried brown blossoms..

Nope, that's my buddy Quercus, master of the V2 household.

My husband likes the paint job on their cat better than on ours but here's a photo of our Melvin in all his glory-

Here's a classic Melvin pose and that's a 3' wide dresser drawer he's sprawled out in-

Last one of our beasty boy-

adoreable black and white mophead...I used to have a cat who slept in drawers ~~~ close them up and later hear a tiny meow.

H. macrophylla niger

Hey, you and John have something in common! Uniques cat names and you both have beautiful blackies! Our cats come with names from the animal shelters and since they are older when we get them, we keep their names.

Mophead Melvin is just slightly over 20 lbs and I actually have one cat here that outweighs him at around 22lbs named Elliott. When I put away folded laundry, it is as if a bell goes off in Melvin's head that tells him to find an open drawer. I merely let him have the drawer and put the clothing away after he vacates. I do have a tiny little cat here that is almost 7 lbs and she is the cat that likes to get into dryers. I open a dryer to take out laundry, phone rings, I run to answer the phone, and when I come back that cat is balled up in the warm clothes. She's old and cold so she goes for the heat sources and this is the cat that likes to sleep on your face. You'll wake up in the middle of the night having one of those dreams that you are drowning or being suffocated in an elevator only to find she has nestled in over your nose and mouth. We have two heating pads set to low for her and that helps keep her off our heads.

Here, a photo of Trista. Tiny little thing at 22 years of age (23 this coming April) that sleeps at least 22 hours a day if not more lately. She's deafer than a doornail so you can blow off a bottle rocket next to her and she's sleep through it-

23 years old! Poor little thing...she has a wonderful Mom. My cat is really named Cupid...just changed it for this thread since it SUPPOSED to be about Hydrangeas. I did have a Hydrangea niger but lost it to some sort of root rot. It is a great one with new black stems (and of course blue or pink mopheads).

Oops, ok... I'll rename her then... she's deaf anyway and only responds to "stomp of foot on floor" or "wiggle of fingers in front of face". I now proclaim her Trista's new name to be H. arborescens 'Annabelle'. Thank you for keeping this thread on track ;)

There'll have to be no renames here; Quercus wanted you all to know that several Hydrangea clones were inspired by His Magnificence:

Hydrangea paniculata 'Unique'
Hydrangea paniculata Limelight™

His fan mail can be posted here for publicity staff to collect. No gifts, please.

Looks more like grandifloora ~~~ but he is most magnificent.