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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Pink Hydrangea and My Hydrangea Lab


Blooms as big as salad plates.


I wish I could tell you we were responsible for growing this pink confection. 
Sadly no.


We have heaped wood stove ashes on the base of our Nikko blue hydrangea and the soil is still acidic. 
No pink hydrangeas emerge for us.



Joe bought this one for me at Costco.
 They could not tell me what kind of hydrangea it was.
I made a young man check his computer and he said the
computer merely said it was a " hardy hydrangea."
It would be lovely if it were an Endless Summer variety.



The above image shows our what I jokingly call the Hydrangea Lab. 
 I layered one of the Nikko Blues and the other two are transplanted.
The three Oak Leafs were given to me.
 I cannot tell you how much I baby these little hydrangeas.
That two have little blooms is the bomb diggity.
Our old Nikko Blue hydrangea will be in full bloom soon.





Next year this hydrangea will be blue.
I am convinced we would need the ash from a thousand fires or a
thousand dollars in lime to change the ph of the acidic soil here.
We will enjoy the pink now.


Linking with Kim @ Wow Us Wednesday's

happy gardening
Olive

33 comments:

  1. Olivie, we are both focusing on hydrangeas this week! I 'll hope your costco buys are endless summers. I have a whole row of them and they are glorious. I put coffee bounds around the base of mind along with egg shells and that helps them turn blue. I get extra coffee bounds from my local starbucks. Happy Mother's Day, Laura

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  2. So far I haven't had luck with hydrangeas. But I will be relentless. I bought one at Lowes about a month ago on the clearance table. Probably should spring for a more expensive one. So far I've seen virtually no growth. Me thinks I just don't know enough about these critters.
    Brenda

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  3. Beautiful blooms. Best of luck with your lab.

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  4. Olive, I love roses and hydrangas but I have the worst luck with them. I will wish you the best of luck with yours. One day I may end up with the right combination, who knows. Smiles, Susie
    p.s. Happy Mother's Day

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  5. That's a gorgeous shade of pink. I read somewhere that if you bury some rusty iron (nails) near to the hydrangea it has the effect of changing the colour to blue, Never tried it, my hydrangeas are pink too.

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  6. You could always grown them in one of your cute pots and control the soil content. My friend grows HUGE hydrangeas in relatively small containers. Just a thought(: Happy Mother's Day xo

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  7. I bought a Hydrangea from Home Depot. Took it home, planted it and......it was something weird for sure. I just thought it was a different plant that was in the wrong area. Turned out it was a Hydrangea TREE. Hmmm. I wasn't thrilled with the yellow-green of the cone shaped flowers but I got alot of compliments. I had trimmed the branches browing at the bottom and shaped it into a tree shape even before I knew that's what it was.

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  8. That's quite the hydrangea nursery you have there. I have a very large white one and 2 small ones that are definitely taking there time in growing. I'd love to have a big blue shrub!

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  9. Store bought or home-grown, it's just gorgeous! Don't those little blooms just make you giddy? Have a wonderful Mother's Day. Hope Joe is feeling much better!! xoxo

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  10. It's very pretty, yep, enjoy it now:@) Happy Mother's Day Olive!

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  11. Hydrangeas need shade and water..Aluminum sulfate added to soil will make it acidic and you'll have blue Hydrangeas..I just forget to keep up with it but it works...You can buy it at a local nursery..

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    1. When I plant it in our yard next year it will be blue because of our acidic soil.

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  12. Look at all you gardners know about hydrangeas. I'm impressed. They just look pretty to me and I'll leave the upkeep to you.

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  13. Hello Olive... just gorgeous!... take a peek at Conghaile Cottage blog... Donna recently posted that COSTCO had Endless Summer Hydrangeas!... hopefully yours is one~... Happy Mothers Day to you, xoxo Julie Marie PS Hope Joe is all better!

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  14. Home grown or not it is seriously gorgeous! I am sure it will be tended with a kind hand. Happy Mothers Day Cheers SpecialK XoXo

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  15. I had no idea...so interesting..your flowers are gorgeous!!

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  16. It;s too hot and dry here to raise such beauties.

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  17. Dear Olive - we can only grow pink Hydrangeas and I would really, really, love to have blue ones. Isn't that just the case, we cannot always have what we want?

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  18. Love you hydrangea lab.. .LOL What a great idea! Planted my very first hydrangea this year and it is supposed to be pink. Not blooming yet, but stay tuned... I'll let you know what happens...

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  19. Mine always go purple...so I must have a mixed soil....they are so lovely in pink...hope it does well at the lab.

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  20. I love hydrangeas and have always had them in my flower beds...always blue though here in NC! The pinks are lovely! Happy Mother's day, my friend!

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  21. Love my Nikko Blue..lucky me it blooms blue, pink and purple! I took pics yesterday to post.

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  22. Hi Olive! Oh, I just love those Hydrangeas! I have a puny little one in a pot. Don't know if it's going to do anything though.
    Happy Mother's Day.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  23. Olive, I love hydrangeas and have different ones throughout our garden. It's funny this year our lace cap ones are doing so well, and one up on our hill is finally growing. I think they take some time to get established. It's been about 3 years since we planted them. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. Happy Mother's Day.

    Love, Jody

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  24. Beautiful, Olive. Our hydrangea is pink AND blue. Never had one do that before. The others are white.

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  25. Cracking up at your hydrangea lab. Basically I'll settle for any sort of blooms. Don't care what color! Love your new header too...hope your Mother's Day was wonderful!

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  26. I'm using someone else's computer so still can't post...ugh...just wanted to pop in and say that I love your new header!!! I think I like it even better than the last one!

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  27. Girl...I'll send you some of my dirt if you'll send me some of yours! I only get pink.
    Endless Summers are the best invention evah.
    You give a whole 'nother meaning to going to the nursery for plants. Baby hydrangeas...love 'em.
    Deb

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  28. Love the little tour of experiments and seekings...

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  29. That pink hydrangea is gorgeous! I just got home from Home Depot and they have lots of Endless Summer hydrangeas. I love the pink and as you said you are going to plant it in your acidic soil. However, I wonder if it will only turn purple(kind of magenta/purple)because it's a dark pink. It will be an interesting experiment. I'm looking forward to the results. XO

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  30. Beautiful! I bought 4 of the Endless Summer hydrangeas, last year, they are up but not anywhere near ready to bloom. I want them blue, last year they were pink, and I couldn't change them, maybe we should trade some soil! Either way they are Beautiful! Good Luck!

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  31. Your little hydrangea "Nursery" looks great. As for the one from COSTCO. WELL, It doesn't look like ENDLESS SUMMER. The kind the stores sell at Easter and Mother's Day have that look, AND here in New England they would just be a pretty house plant and would not winter HERE or in areas with cold winters. I could be wrong but I want to warn you ahead of time JUST IN CASE it doesn't take(it would NOT be your fault)... Our costco was OUT OF Endless Summers...BUT I saw them at HOME DEPOT and I'm sure LOWES(would have them too)... DO GET one or two or MORE...You will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED... Home Depot sells a bag of potting mix JUST FOR azaleas, rhody's, etc. I usually buy one bag of this soil and mix it into the bed when I'm going to be planting an ACID loving bush. Your wood ash is GREAT for everything... So is coffee grounds... Banana peels(cut them up and bury one whole peel per plant PER SEASON)...
    Happy Gardening,
    Big Hugs,
    Donna

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  32. Endless Summer Hydrangea's are ALWAYS in a blue pot that tells you they ARE ENDLESS SUMMER... So sadly the one your Sweetie bought you IS NOT. But it is gorgeous so add it into your nursery... One day you are going to look back at your "Hydrangea's Beginnings and LAUGH" when they are all huge and GORGEOUS!
    Big Hugs,
    Donna

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I adore your comments. They are like finding unexpected chocolates. olive