Hydrangeas are a gorgeous traditional flower, signifying remorse and regret and given when asking for forgiveness. They also beautify any area of the garden they are placed in.
When we think about old fashioned plants, we tend to think roses. But for many, the wonderfully bushy hydrangea with its huge blowsy blooms that seem to last forever often speak of days gone by.
There are 75 varieties of this bushy plant known as hortensia that can grow more than three metres high, depending on the variety and growing conditions.
Some can be as small as a metre in height when fully grown, some can climb, some have small delicate white or pink heads and others the traditional great big blooms of pink, or blue.
Their long-lasting flower heads do need deadheading during the flowering season of spring through to early autumn – and it’s now, late autumn heading into winter, that the plant, which will lose it leaves, needs to be pruned back.
To do this you have to remember that the plant will only bloom on old wood, not new and you need to cut above the bud.
Trim back any dead heads right under the flower head.
To propagate hydrangea is quite easy – from winter onwards, you can take cuttings from one- or two-year-old wood.
You’ll need to cut just beneath and above a slight swelling/bumps along the stem where the leaves grow from. This is known as a node.
I’ll use a rooting hormone powder and dip the end of the cutting into that before putting it in a well-turned vegetable garden, positioning it halfway down so only 10cm is showing.
You can also plant these into pots so they are out of the way until you are ready to plant them in spring when the roots should be well formed.
Just remember when planting out, hydrangeas don’t like a lot of sun – morning sun is best for them. They can wilt if not watered enough – yet they don’t like boggy, saturated soil either. They do like a good, well-drained, enriched soil.
The colours of hydrangea are always a talking point, yet only the flowers of bigleaf hydrangea (hydrangea macrophylla) can change color.
If blue is what you are after, it is also a good idea to look for those bred to be this colour such as Look for hydrangeas that are bred to be blue such as “Nikko Blue,” “Endless Summer The Original,” “Penny Mac,” “Blauer Prinz,” or “Endless Summer Twist-n-Shout.”
The reason they do this is entirely based on the acidity of the soil. To get a true blue colour, your soil acidity needs to be pH 5.5 or lower. To get the pink, it needs to be higher than that. To get the combination of both, your soil pH level needs to be between 5.5 and 6.5.
Finally, if you like to put hydrangeas in a vase, to stop them from wilting quickly, cut just above a node straight across, strip leaves off.
Dip the stem in boiling water for a moment. Make sure you change the water every day.
