Wow, Dianne... here in Middle TN, the like-concrete clay won't grow a lot of plants that grow everywhere else just fine. It could be a culmination of different things but folks around Murfreesboro don't - through general concensus- have much luck with them.
I dug out my Clay soil and backfilled an area about 10 feet in Diameter and 3 feet deep with a mix of the native clay and topsoil mix and 2 bales of peet. They are in full sun and granted the heat this year has taken a toll but as long as i water about every three days they are happy and healthy. This is only the second year in the newly transplanted area but the plant is four times as big as it was before and it had been in the old spot for 10 years. So as long as they have water and good
...»
drainage they are pretty much a carefree plant. I love mine.
There are Hydrangeas that grow very well in most parts of the country, the trick is choosing a variety that hardy in the zone you live in. Up here in Minnesota, the vivid hydrangeas that are used in the florist trade don't stand a chance of growing outdoors. But that didn't stop me from growing Hydrangeas. I had Peegee, Limelight, Annabelle, Pinky Winky, Quickfire and others growing in my yard. Here is a pic of the Limelights growing in front of my old house (we just moved, I was so sorry to leave my plants behind).
I tried the nails, and I used about a dozen, didn't work. But I did use all my left over coffee for a deeper blue and this year the blue was a deep blue. The lady at the nursery told me to do this and I started last summer with the coffee. They like the acid in the coffee.
I have to water mine every day, if I don't the leaves droop like it is dying. It doesn't bloom every year either. I love the blooms but am thinking of getting rid of it since it doesn't bloom like it should.
Just love hydrangeas- have 7 in a smallish suburban yard. One Nikko pink is large. It suffers in the strong heat since we lost trees that provided some shade and breeze. It continues to flower well and I water it, then tolerate the faster browning of the flowers. I add different types of nutrients from year to year to see what happens with the colors of the different varieties. With epsom salts, theNikko pink goes lilac to violet. I only give the alkaline and balanced nutrients to the
...»
other pink hydrangeas and to my oak leaf. I wish I could have more hydrangeas and think I will add some of the repeat bloomers to replace some perennial areas that are not tolerating light changes well. Thanks for sharing! These are beautiful.
@Cynthia are you cutting it back in the fall when it goes dorment? I've had a number of friends say they cut it back in the fall because they thought it would strengthen the plant...but in reality they were cutting off the blooms for next year....
@Betty A Penny Ball, is a gazing Ball or styrafoam ball covered with glued on pennies...and set in among the hydrangeas...the copper makes the hydrangeas blue...
I don't cut mine back untuil after the leaves have grown but it only blooms every other year, I don'y understand why. In fact, I just cut the dead stems off a couple of days ago.
Hydrangeas can be divided into two groups: those that bloom on new wood, and those that bloom on old wood. Varieties that bloom on old wood will set their buds for the next spring in the previous fall. If the shrub dies back to the ground due to a harsh winter or is pruned back too far so that the little bud eyes are pruned away the shrub will not be able to bloom the next spring. Hydrangeas that are considered winter hardy typically have the ability to bloom on new wood. So if the whole
...»
crown of the shrub dies back due to harsh winter weather, the new shoots coming out of the ground the next spring are still able to produce blooms. This might be a bit of an oversimplification, but heck, simple is good sometimes! :) Typically, the vividly colored hydrangeas were zone 5 or higher rated as they were "old wood" bloomers. Up here in zone 4 and below, the only hydrangeas we could grow were new wood bloomers and they generally only had white blooms (PeeGee and Annabella were commonly grown). Then about 10 years ago the "Endless Summer" hydrangea became available and us northland gardeners went wild! We finally had a hydrangea we could grow that would bloom in pink or blue for us! That then triggered many new varieties to be developed that were winter hardy and now us northlanders have many beautiful hydrangeas to chose from and grow. Truly a happy ending for us in zone 4! :)
you can use a bowling ball and epoxy pennies all over it- make sure to use sealer. When the pennies start to oxidize, copper is leaked into the soil. Hope it helps
I Love the Blue but Mine wasn't that Blue this year...I think my Hawaiian Ginger sucked all the acid out of the ground or something but I'm gonna give it more and some copper supplement this fall...
I use the grounds and the coffee, plus in early spring I fertilize them . I dump the left over coffee and grounds every day. At the nursery I go to they suggested Espoma organic Soil Acidifier, I use this every 60 days, and they were beautiful, that is till the heat got them. They look pretty ruff right now. Mine only bloom in the spring. I got one of the new ones this year, that is supposed to bloom all summer long,hopefully next summer it will do that. Anyway this worked for me.
I am experimenting with my first only Hydrangea! Mine was in a pot for 3 years until it went into the ground this spring...bloomed for the first time...like crazy! Mine dies down every year and comes back. I guess if you don't know what kind you have, prune one side and don't prune the other!?? That would work. As it got leggy, I laid a few limbs on the ground and covered part of them with dirt...trying to see if I can root this way. I will post my results at the end of the summer when I attempt to take up the rooted plants!
Beautiful. Interesting read since I now have my first 2 hydrangeas that are in a large pot. Their orginal color was a beautiful burgendy tinged with blue and one light blue plant. I hope the penny ball will work for mine. Thanks for all the suggestions!
Betty, sorry about that. Yes you are right. I didn't fully explain- if a person uses grout for the pennies, instead of epoxy-the grout only should be sealed. It is a very tedious job. When using the epoxy, you don't need sealer.
@Betty A Penny Ball, is a gazing Ball or styrafoam ball covered with glued on pennies...and set in among the hydrangeas...the copper makes the hydrangeas blue...
Good Luck