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Life is too short to eat bad food! Sharing great recipes, farm life, stories and photography from our Northern California dairy farm.

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July 19, 2011

WW: Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are a favorite flower of mine.  I especially love the blue colored variety.....I think it's in my blood, you see, they're on the island of Sao Jorge in the Azores, where my dad is from and they just about COVER the entire island.














So whenever I buy a Hydrangea to plant here at home, I have five at the present time, I buy them in 'blue' but they all change to shades of pink.....every time. 













I know it has to do with the soil.  I've heard throwing a few rusty nails into the hole before planting will keep the blue color, tried it, doesn't work.

So for now, it's all about pink Hydrangeas on the farm.

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20 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

oh, but they're a vibrant beautiful pink! :)

Heather Gross said...

You need to add aluminum sulfate to the soil several times through the growing season. This will turn them from pink to blue.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

Mine are blue, but I bought pink...Isn't that funny? I love them too, they are the crown in my flower garden!!

I hope you're enjoying your week!!

Anna said...

They are beautiful! I will have to remember them when I plan my landscaping for next spring!

Little Hatchlings said...

These are lovely! I wonder why they change their colors from blue to pink...that's very interesting!

An Authentic Life said...

I love em too Nancy and enjoyed seeing them frolicking everywhere while in Sonoma County last week.

Annie said...

look at those bright colors!! So cheery!

Michelle said...

One of my favorite flowers. I have to admit that I like the blue variety.

alicia said...

Interesting. I LOVE hydrangeas but have never tried to grow them. Just recently I learned that you can buy them white and die them in water. I thought that was cool. Wondering what is in the soil changes your color? lol.

Reena said...

I have the same problem! But these are beautiful!

Savvy said...

Those blooms are beautiful! Is it true that the acid levels in the soil change the hue? I think I heard that somewhere, but can't remember where.

I haven't been by before, and I'm glad I hopped over. I'm your newest follower, have a Happy WW!

ann said...

My granddaughter is using Hydrangeas for her wedding in Sept Needless to say it is her favorite flower

Good Girl Gone Green said...

Pink is so pretty!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

So pretty! My hydrangeas are blue/purple.

Unknown said...

Hello new blog friend! I am your newest follower via the blog hop :)
It would be great for a follow back! Have a lovely day,
~meg~
http://agemmoment.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

We have mostly pink ones at this new house but I did find one purple one hiding behind a pink one the other day. My favorite hydrangeas are actually the oak leaf ones. So beautiful!

Valentina@baby quilts said...

The blue color is determined by the pH of the soil - it should be low (5.2-5.5). To obtain a blue hydrangea, you can add aluminum sulfate as it lowers the pH of the soil. Another method for lowering the pH is to add organic matter to the soil such as coffee grounds.

However, I believe that hydrangeas have a mind of their own and could be very stubborn - sometimes they'd rather die than dye :D

Misty DawnS said...

Beautiful! I love Hydrangeas!

Stacey said...

Hi there - your other commenters have hinted at the issue of hydrangea flower color. It is aluminum in your soil that changes the flower color of hydrangeas (more aluminum=bluer flowers, less aluminum=pink flowers). Most all soils contain plenty of aluminum, but it is only available for the plants' use in more acid (i.e., pH of less than 7.0)soils. So you can encourage blue flowers simply by adding aluminum sulfate or by changing the pH through the addition of lime. Nails are an old-fashioned "remedy" for this but you'd need a seriously dangerous mulch of nails to really effect the change. Of course, you can also simply enjoy your lovely pink hydrangeas!

Cassy said...

I love Hydrangeas too. But I have only seen the blue ones not the pink one. Nice to see it in your post!

Cassy from Guitar Made Easy