hydrangeas

[mvrdrk]

My hydrangeas are powder blue with a purple undercast and fade to teal. They are quite lovely, especially as they fade to teal green. The neighbor has some that are pure blue and intensely colored, growing right up against our fence. I've always coveted them.

In taking down the fence today, Bob the Builder knocked a branch off her hydrangeas. I've got several bits potted up in the hope they will take root and a small vase full on the kitchen counter. It feels like poaching, a kind of hang-dog guilty and sneakily triumphant at the same time feeling.

Edited to add - and the neighbors are lacecaps where mine are mopheads, and I adore lacecaps. Also, photos:

mine on the bottom left, neighbors on the top right

neighbors and my white

Comments

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

*covets your covetted hydrangeas*

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

I always heard that the color was due to the pH of the soil. Shouldn't you be stealing your neighbor's dirt?

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Was going to say...

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

Not all hydrangeas are sensitive to pH. The ones that are sensitive vary, too, so that even in the same soil, you'll get different colors from different ones. So yes, but maybe not.

[shalimar1001.livejournal.com]

But actually, it is more challenging to have your hydrangeas purple.
When the PH of soil is lower than 7, more acid in the soil, the hydrangeas are blue; when PH is over 7, they turn pink and red. Soil must be up and down around 7 to keep all blue and red color pale, which is somewhat purple.
If you want your hydrangeas blue, you can put all coffee ground around the roots of the plants. It will lower the ph of the soil.

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

Interesting! Must be because mine are up against the concrete foundation and the concrete raises the pH. Her's are really all of 10 feet away. The fence being gone means I get to enjoy both!