I love hydrangeas; no surprise given my favorite color has always been purple with pink a close second. I didn’t think hydrangea’s could prosper in Zone 4 but have recently found out that is not so. New heartier varieties have been cultivated to withstand the extremes in Zone 4 and do well here now as evidenced in numerous area gardens/yards and county fair entries.
The hydrangea was first cultivated in Japan but ancient North American hydrangea fossils date back 40-65 million years. It didn’t appear in Europe until 1736 when a North American varietal was brought to England. There are over 75 species of hydrangeas with the most widely known called Hydrangea macrophylla or bigleaf hydrangea. In Japan their meaning is tied to apology and gratitude whereas in Europe they imply frigidity as they produce so few seeds. The color of the blooms have meaning as well; blue for heartfelt emotion, white for purity/grace, pink for romance and purple for pride or royalty. The beautiful blooms have a sweet scent but the leaves contain a low level of the poison cyanide so keep them away from children and pets. When choosing a place to plant hydrangea’s, keep in mind that they require constant moisture to stay happy, healthy and blooming and also like a lot of shade.
I must mention instructions for changing the natural purple hue of a hydrangea. To get pink blooms you need an alkaline soil pH of 7 or higher which requires adding 1 Tbsp. hydrated lime per gallon of water poured onto the roots. To get blue blooms you need an acidic soil at a pH of 5.5 or lower which you get by adding 1 Tbsp. aluminum sulfate per gallon of water poured onto the roots. I have heard tales of adding rusty nails to the soil which modify the pH one direction or the other but I’d stick with the recommendations from the experts.
Inspiration for my own gardening efforts at the lake have come from my growing up years. Last year, I planted a bleeding heart which always bloomed nicely on the north side of the house I grew up in. Right next to it was a large white “pom-pom” bush, as my mother referred to it. I have come to learn its official name is a Hydrangea arborescens commonly known as smooth hydrangea, wild hydrangea or sevenbark which is in the Hydrangeaceae family of flowering plant species. So this year, I planted one called an ‘Incrediball,’ a hardy improved ‘Annabelle,’ which is billed as having super-sized white blooms great for using in cut flower arrangements. Paul dug the hole and we planted it on the north side of the house in part sun/part shade, protected a bit from the wind and in an area that gets lots of moisture from a downspout. With the weekend farmer’s rain, let’s hope it is off to a good start and if it does well there is definitely a purple hydrangea in our future. This is the first of many articles in this summer series about flower and vegetable gardening.