hi there,
i live in ny,(zone 7),i bought a red hydrangea plant 2 years ago from home
depot. last it did not make any flowers, this year it has nice bug buds out
of which some have bloomed but into a vey pale cream colour, i wanted a nice
bright red.
i had also bought a blue hydrangea last year but this year it also has cream
blooms,(the flower has not yet opened just one a few blooms here and there).
i wanted to know is there any thig that i can do to improve the color. is
there any special fertilizer that i should put(i put miracle grow).
thanks,
sabaa

Just bough a new Hydrangea. I have potted it up in peat based compost and would like to know how to
look after it. Mine is blue and just about to flower and is an outdoor one.,

--
Evelyn in Scotland

Hi there
I will also be interested in replies as I have just bought a lovely outdoor one. It is just about to flower.

--
Evelyn in Scotland

in article , Evelyn Usher at
wrote on 19/6/03 4:00 pm:

Hi there
I will also be interested in replies as I have just bought a lovely outdoor
one. It is just about to flower.

If you want to change or maintain their colour, garden centres sell some
specialist salts or fluids to do it. And don't let them dry out completely
in hot weather. Their name beginning with Hydra gives you a clue there!
--

Sacha

On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 02:53:08 GMT, "Sabaa Mundia"
wrote:

hi there,
i live in ny,(zone 7),i bought a red hydrangea plant 2 years ago from home
depot. last it did not make any flowers, this year it has nice bug buds out
of which some have bloomed but into a vey pale cream colour, i wanted a nice
bright red.
i had also bought a blue hydrangea last year but this year it also has cream
blooms,(the flower has not yet opened just one a few blooms here and there).
i wanted to know is there any thig that i can do to improve the color. is
there any special fertilizer that i should put(i put miracle grow).
thanks,
sabaa


I'm not sure I understand why either of them should lose their colour
and become bleached. Hydrangeas generally have blue flowers on acid
soil and pink flowers of alkaline soil (quite what the whites or some
of the modern hybrids do I'm not sure). Are they in good light, as
poor light can effect the colour of many flowers? Are they in pots or
in the soil outside? Have you re-potted them since you had them?
Perhaps the soil they're in is slightly alkaline.

Hydrangeas require aluminium ions for a good blue colour, and these
are only present in acid soils. A traditional but slow method for
getting blues was to scatter rusty nails around the roots but I don't
understand how this worked. At one time it was possible to get a
'blueing' compound for hydrangeas. As an alternative, you could try
sprinkling a pinch or two of alum on the soil around them and watering
it in.

BTW, hydrangeas flower on last year's growth and many are not fully
hardy. If your plants are outside and get frosted back to ground level
each winter and have to re-grow each spring, you won't get many
flowers.




--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net