Tips for growing Hydrangea

Hydrangea are one of my favorite shrubs. I ran across a great article on taking care of them at the Farmers Almanac. Here’s a link to their site if you want to see the original article: http://www.almanac.com/plant/hydrangea I summarized what they had to say below.

Hydrangea are a wonderful flowering shrub. The blossoms can be very large and come in several colors: Red, Pink, Blue, Purple and White. Some varieties have blossoms of different colors. The color of the hydrangea flower really varies with the amount of aluminum ions in the soil. Acidic soils with a pH of less than 5.5 produce blue flowers; soils with a pH greater than 5.5 product pink flowers. White flowers are not affected by pH.

Hydrangeas are easy to grow. They produce flowers from mid summer into the fall when many other plants have quit blooming so they are a nice addition to any yard or garden. They make excellent borders and work well in group plantings.

Planting

• Most hydrangeas thrive in rich, porous, somewhat moist soils. Add compost to enrich poor soil.
• They prefer full sun in the morning, with some afternoon shade; however, many will grow and bloom in partial shade. This is especially true for the bigleaf hydrangeas (see Recommended Varieties below).
• Plant in spring or fall.
• Dig a hole as deep as the root ball and 2 to 3 times as wide.
• Set the plant in the hole and fill it half full with soil. Water. After water is drained, fill the rest of the hole with soil.
• Water thoroughly.
• Space multiple hydrangeas about 3 to 10 feet apart.

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Care

For the first year or two after planting and during any drought, be sure hydrangeas get plenty of water. Leaves will wilt if the soil is too dry.

PRUNING!

• When growing H. macrophylla varieties in Zones 4 and 5, don’t prune unless absolutely necessary, and then do so immediately AFTER blooming. Otherwise, remove only dead stems in the spring.

If you need to prune an older hydrangea, it depends on which variety you have.

• The common Bigleaf hydrangea should be pruned AFTER flowers fade (late spring/early summer). If you prune before bloom, you may not have blossoms the following spring.
• Oakleaf, panicle, and smooth hydrangeas blossom on the current seasons’ wood so they should be pruned BEFORE bloom when plant is dormant, i.e. late winter or early spring.

Try drying hydrangea flowers to create a wreath or other decorations around the house:

• Harvest the heads when the flowers have matured and developed a papery consistency.
• Hang upside down in a dry location.

• When completely dry (usually a couple of weeks), store in a dry location out of direct sunlight.

• To enhance flower color, spritz dry flowers with diluted Rit dye.

In the fall, cover plants to a depth of at least 18 inches with bark mulch, leaves, pine needles, or straw.

Again, thanks to the Farmers Almanac for their great article and information on Hydrangea.

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Original article and pictures take http://livedan330.com/2013/07/08/201376tips-for-growing-hydrangea/ site