Salutations and happy summer! Our summer garden is in full swing and the hydrangeas are blooming a variety of colors this year. From deep purple to classic blue, they are one of my favorite flowers, especially to cut and bring inside. I picked a couple of new blooms in lime green to add to this bouquet too. One was on it’s way to turning purple and the other blue.
So I did some investigating about hydrangea color…
Can you manipulate the bloom colors of French hydrangea plants?
Turns out, yes!
The hydrangea bloom color reflects the pH level of the soil they’re growing in.
Acidic soil≈ blue blooms
Alkaline soil≈ pink blooms
Neutral soil≈ a mix of blue and pink
They’re are products available at garden centers to change the pH of your soil. It usually takes one full growing season for the hydrangea’s blooms to reflect the change in the soil pH. We use pine needles to mulch our hydrangea garden which naturally keeps the soil acidic. White blooms cannot be changed.
Some varieties of hydrangeas remain deep pink or purple no matter the pH of the soil. The Ami Pasquier remains crimson in all but very acidic soil and Purple Tiers remains purple.
Hope you enjoyed today’s gardening lesson. lol.
xoxo Sally
I knew a little about changing the balance of the soil, but I hadn’t known about the specific varieties that don’t change color. Those deep purple ones are fabulous!
I love hydrangeas! I have not had good luck growing them in my yard though. I have one bush but all my others died. I think it’s neat learning the science behind changing their colors. Your flowers look beautiful!