Plant Hydrangeas

2023 Author: Hannah Pearcy | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 03:36

If you want to plant hydrangeas in the garden, you can now find a variety of varieties that you can hardly find in the trade: In garden centers and garden markets you can now find many different types of hydrangeas - also as a potted plant for the windowsill. Special breeds, such as the Hydrangea Forever & Ever, promise persistent splendor and require minimal care. In contrast to other Hydrangea macrophylla species, this new breed blooms on annual and perennial wood, the hydrangea growers promise. So each branch produces a flower, regardless of pruning or frost. Even if the hardy plant (robust down to -20 ° C) is cut shortly after the frost, it is guaranteed to spoil the flower lover with its blossoms all summer long in the same year.

Care and pruning of hydrangeas

The ideal time to cut your hydrangea is after the first flowering. This also applies if you want to plant hydrangeas that, for example, were initially a pleasure as a houseplant. The shrub planted in the garden blooms a second time after pruning. The most important thing in care is watering, because hydrangeas are always thirsty. Regular fertilizers are given to the permanent bloomers with their colorful flowers. But that was it with the care.

By the way, the flowers of the hydrangea are extremely durable. Freshly cut, they are ideal for decoration in bouquets or arrangements. At the end of the flowering period, the flowers lose their luminosity and vitality. Practical tip: Now is the right time to cut them just below the inflorescence in order to use them as dried flowers in autumnal floristry.

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Acidic soil for blue hydrangeas

Some varieties of hydrangea and plate hydrangea, when planted in the bed, produce pink or blue flowers, depending on the pH of the soil. An acidic soil and a high aluminum content of the plant substrate are decisive for the blue flower color. If the flowers of blue hydrangeas turn pink over time, you can get the blue color back with simple tricks - we explain how to do it. When planting blue hydrangeas, you should make sure that the soil has a low pH when it comes to the location: In acidic soils (pH 4.0 - 5.5), hydrangeas are receptive to aluminum dissolved in the soil Vegetable dye stored for the blue coloring of the flowers. So do a soil pH test before planting the hydrangea.

The following measures are helpful to lower the pH of the soil:

• A mild method is to enrich the soil with peat and compost. The degradation process makes the soil more acidic.
• Use rhododendron soil for the planting hole (also for tub hydrangeas), the soil is already acidic.
• To keep the pH low, you should only use low-lime (!) Rainwater for watering.
• Solution from the watering can: Low-phosphorus fertilizer with a high potassium content promotes the formation of blue flowers.

In addition to the pH of the soil, the availability of aluminum salts in the soil is essential for the blue coloring of the hydrangea flower. To do this, you can either use commercially available hydrangea fertilizer from the garden market at the beginning of the shoot in spring (note the manufacturer's recommended dosage!) - aluminum sulfate (dissolve 2 tablespoons in 5 liters of water, water the plant beforehand!) Or potassium alum (2 tablespoons dry around the plant spread) are cheap alternatives.

Once a blue hydrangea has lost its blue flower color (and blooms pink), it can take up to two years for the measures described above to bring the blue color back. Until then, the hydrangea flowers usually show a colorful variety of colors between pink - violet - bluish pink and shades of blue. Practical tip: White and pure red blooming hydrangeas cannot be "transformed" into blue-flowering varieties!

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Photos: forever-ever.eu

Source: himself is the man