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Hydrangeas

Published Tuesday, June 23, 2009 10:09 AM

By Judy Watts
Berkeley Independent

I’ve always been a fan of hydrangeas. There was one at my parents’ house that my father received as a gift decades ago. Every year it would sneak back to life and put on a show of rich magenta blooms. I have a piece of that plant growing in my backyard.

Over the years I’ve collected a few more, with the only drawback being that I missed their showy bouquets of blooms once the season ended.

About three years ago, I discovered Endless Summer hydrangeas. I bought my first one, plopped it into a large outdoor pot and watched it throughout the summer. It was okay, but nothing to get too excited about with smallish and sparse blooms. Last year I was impressed by the blooms which were fuller, more colorful and more plentiful than the first season. And the plant did bloom all the way into late fall so I went out and bought a couple more to keep it company.

This year they are all spectacular. One bush has dozens of full pale pink blooms. Two others sport true blue flowers.

According to the folks at endlesssummerblooms.com they began with a single plant, Endless Summer The Original. That would be the two blue plants I purchased last year.

The Blushing Bride variety features pure white blooms that mature to the palest of pinks and was the second variety developed.

The newest offering is Twist and Shout, a lace cap hydrangea. Twist-n-Shout was developed by Dr. Michael Dirr of the University of Georgia and is a cross between Penny Mac and Lady in Red.

Some hydrangeas bloom on old growth, while others bloom on new growth. Endless Summer blooms on both old and new growth, so winter pruning is not advised.

Feed hydrangeas with a slow release fertilizer once in the spring. If the hydrangea is in a container, it should be fed again in later summer.

Although hydrangeas are named after “hydra,” which is the Greek for water, over watering can result in large leaves and lots of green growth with few flower buds, according to the Endless Summer website.

In this climate, it is not unusual for Hydrangeas to wilt during the day and spring back as the afternoon cools. It is best to water well and less often.

Endless Summer also features Color Me Pink and Color Me Blue kits to make it easy for gardeners to change the color of their hydrangeas, a task that tends to mystify some weekend gardeners. The pink flowers are the result of a more alkaline soil while the blue flowers are the result of more acid.

Changing the color could take months, or even several years, so patience is the word if you aren’t content with what you have. According to the Clemson Extension, for blue flowers maintain the soil pH between 5 and 5.5. Apply aluminum sulfate or sulfur to reduce the pH when new growth emerges. For pink flowers maintain a pH of 6 or more by liming the soil.

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