Hydrangeas

 Intruduction 

With immense flower heads, hydrangeas flaunt an old-fashioned charm that is hard to resist. Colors also beguile with clear blues, vibrant pinks, frosty whites, lavender, and rose—sometimes all blooming on the same plant!
The colors of some hydrangeas—especially mophead and lacecap—can change color based on the soil pH, which affects relative availability of aluminum ions. 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.
Unrivaled in the shrub world, these elegant ladies are easy to cultivate, tolerate almost any soil, and produce flowers in mid-summer through fall (when little else may be in bloom). Hydrangeas are excellent for a range of garden sites from group plantings to shrub borders to containers.

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.                                          

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.
• If your soil is rich, you may not need to fertilize hydrangeas. If your soil is light or sandy, it’s best to feed the plants once a year n late winter or spring.  Too much fertilizer encourages leafy growth at the expense of blooms.
• In the fall, cover plants to a depth of at least 18 inches with bark mulch, leaves, pine needles, or straw. If at all possible, cover the entire plant, tip included, by making cages out of snow fencing or chicken wire, and loosely filling the cages with leaves. (Do not use maple leaves.)

Other Hydrangeas

• Oakleaf, panicle, and smooth hydrangeas are treated differently.  They blossom on the current seasons’ wood. They should be pruned in the later winter when the plant is dormant BEFORE bloom. This means if the buds are killed during the winter, they will produce new buds in the spring which will produce blooms. 
• In general, prune only dead branches, and do not prune to “shape” the bush. 

Harvest/Storage

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.
• Remove leaves from stems, and hang upside down in a warm, dry, dark, airy room.
• 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.