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indy76km

Hydrangeas

indy76km
15 years ago

I am buying a new house and am starting to put together plans for landscaping. I love the bright blue hydrangeas that I saw in Cape Cod a few years ago. I never see them around here but I do see white ones. Does anyone grow hydrangeas here that can give me a few tips? What other color hydrangeas do people grow in Maine?

Comments (4)

  • red_clay_soil
    15 years ago

    The color of hydrangeas is in large part due to the pH of your soil. I think if you want the flowers to be blue, you have to add Miracid or another similar product to make your soil more acidic. Less acidic soil gives you the white and/or pinkish flowers.

  • megmaine
    15 years ago

    YES! I fell right in love with Nikko Blue Hyrdangeas the first time I saw them and wanted them, only to be crushed to learn they are not hardy in Maine (except if you are lucky and can go to extremes to protect them)... they are picky and thrive in Rhode Island and Cape Cod, but not here.

    BUT!!!! Ever hear of the new Endless Summer Blue Hydrangea? I planted one 3 years ago and have loved it ever since!
    It's a new cultivar that, unlike Nikko Blue, blooms on both old and new wood, so you don't have to worry so much about how or whether you prune it, and it survives Maine just fine, and is GORGEOUS!

    It will, like other blue hydrangeas, turn purple or even pink if the soil is alkaline instead of acid. So test your soil where you want to plant it (unless blueberries or other acid-loving plants are already doing well there, in which case you are all set) and amend the soil if needed to make it acidic. I got some Espoma Garden Sulfur, and also use Espoma's Holly Tone which is good for any acid-loving plant, and if you want to go really frugal, toss those coffee grounds (cooled of course) on the soil around your hydrangea each day... they will help keep it acidic.

    Gotta love those Endless Summer Blue Hydrangeas! Avail. everywhere, even Home Depot has them in season.
    Happy Planting! Oh, they aren't like Nikko Blue in that they will wilt under full sun, and they don't do well in the hottest part of summer if they are in the sun. So give them partial sun, dappled shade and morning sun, or something like that. Full sun all day will wilt them to the ground in July. Mine get shaded by the house by afternoon, yet 1 pm in the hottest part of summer, I have to water them all day to keep them from wilting. But they survive.

  • indy76km
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks Megmaine I will look around for Endless Summer Hydrangeas. I was at home depot today and didn't see any but it's still a little early. They did have a small selection of other stuff that was fun to go through!

  • rwhynott_comcast_net
    14 years ago

    Hi,
    I took some cuttings from my hydrangea's this spring.
    One of which has a flower srarting to form. Should I let it flower or cut it off because of it being so small? It's in a 4" pot.
    thanks Bob

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