Ditto Jen...what a setting for a magazine photo....yg

I'm glad you all like these pictures. I have an easy subject. For me, the flowers make very nice cut flowers this time of year. Very nice colors and many times they'll dry in the vase. The only one that has wilted so far was just a new, immature one.

I've been buying cuttings of a lot of varieties over the past couple of years and I'm loving all the different rich colors I get all summer and then get a whole new set of colors for the fall.

Here's Brestenberg on the right hand side of this picure taken June 28 and Brestenberg taken today, August 15 on the bottom.

--

{{gwi:1016033}}

These are sitting on the back porch in a gallon size pot and greet me every day as I go in and out.

Hay.

If I remember correctly, you posted a pic of Brestenburg much earlier in the bloom process on another thread (can't find it).
These pics (especially side by side) do a lot to show that there is long lasting beauty in every stage of the hydrangea bloom (if you keep the sun from cutting the bloom life short). I love to see the color changes and appreciate the so called "faded" ones as much as the others. Great example Hay.....yg

In the Yellow Hydrangea thread I had a picture of Vulcain with Brestenberg. That must have been where you saw it. Here's part of one of those pictures with two younger Brestneberg blooms in the top part of the picture, surrounding a young Vulcain and a small Decateur Blue.

I was really trying to show the Vulcain and I had used Brestenberg to show how unique Vulcain is.

So, this one, big (155k) picture is stacked:

{{gwi:1016034}}

{{gwi:1016034}}{{gwi:1016034}}

{{gwi:1016034}}{{gwi:1016034}}

{{gwi:1016034}}{{gwi:1016034}}

{{gwi:1016034}}{{gwi:1016034}}

I'm thinking I'm going to be having some very nice dryed flowers. Hay.

Beautiful....you're pictures have made my point perfectly.....This should be in the Facts section for all to see.....yg

Excuse me....I meant to say FAQ section.....yg

Absolutely gorgeous pics! The color changes are amazing and they provide such long-lasting beauty. Thanks for sharing the pics!

I'm getting better at getting my potted plants blue. Many times {{gwi:1016035}}is touted as one of the bluest. I think this is the same flower in mid season and now.

Hay.

I love the real dark blue hydrangeas. I have a young Enziandom, has not flowered yet. I have another one, known for being able to turn cobalt blue, Mathilda Gutges that bloomed three flowers this year but are dark pink. They are all in the pots so maybe if I plant them in the ground, they will turn blue next year as my soil in my yard seems naturally acidic. My Nikkos were pink when I planted them last year but this year, are blue flowers.

Thanks for sharing these pics with us Hay!

It's easier for me to get blue flowers if I have them in pots. That wey, everything is controlled and a good potting soil mix and some aluminum sulphate and I've got blue.

The hydrangea flowers in the full sun get really toasted on top, but these that you're seeing are grown in partial shade at least and here in my zone 5, the ones in the shade stay really nice through fall. On the same shrub, those on the shady side stay nice. Is a better Fall show an advantage for us in the north? From what I see on this forum, I think it must be.

Here's{{gwi:1004618}} from beginning to now. Not the same flower, but typical. This one shows the most dramatic color change i think of the ones I've got. Starts out as a very bright white and now it's as red as any ones I've got. It's also the one with the worse powdery mildew for me right now.

Hay.

Yes, my Preziosa get the same color transformations in your pictures. I love all of the color stages! Right now, the blooms are all red, like the kind of red of my favorite lipstick that I've had :) I don't have any powdery mildew on mine, although when I went to a local grocery store, I saw that the Preziosas for sale had a lot of powdery mildew.

If you turn the Preziosa series of pictures upside down then you've got {{gwi:1016037}}.

Not really, but while Preziosa goes from white to pink to red as it ages, Merritt's Supreme goes from red to white.

This is a pink Merritt's Supreme. I have another potted one that I've turned blue (but I don't have a picture handy) and the blue is as dark and lovely as any you'll see. A good illustration of something that Nantucket Hydrangea pointed out to me... The best reds make the best blues.

Thank you, Mr/Ms Merritt, whereever you are. Hay.

Hay...your Merritt's link is taking me to photobucket with a message to the effect of "file not found". Would love to see them, could you post again?....yg

Sorry about that.

Would the real {{gwi:1016039}} please stand up?

Which gives me a chance to add what I had wanted to say before, that you can get a hint of the wonderful blue it can be made in the second picture of the series. I'm wondering if the fall color would be the same.

(On my computer these pictures will initially show up as a smaller picture than it really is. I can do a click and get it the size it really is and it takes up at least half of the width of my screen and I need to scroll up and down to see it all. I don't know that your system does that, but I think you can appreciate the pictures more if you get them to the larger size.)

Hay.

Beautiful...I have heard that some of the Merritt's have pretty intense color and yours certainly does. They supposedly make for an excellent blue. I love the faded one!! I think I'm going to start using the term "late stage bloom" as "faded" sounds too unflattering (as if it is finished) for blooms that are still so worthy. Thanks again Hay.........yg

Hayseedman...nice photos........How do you keep the blue in the blue Hydrangeas? My 2 Endless Summers were pretty, and then they bloomed pink!...

Hello! I have been a tomato forum follower for quite some time now and love the Garden Web. I also am a fancier of hydrangeas and lately fell in love with the lacy top variety. I purchased one two years ago that was pink. It was slow to grow, but did bloom this year. I have others that have huge blooms - but I need some help from the experts here on this site. One of you said you purchase cuttings. Where would that be? And.....could someone write me with a suggestion as to whether cuttings can be started this time of year, or wait until spring? I am going to thoroughly enjoy this site. Thanks to all.

Ashli, I get variable results for plants that I have in the ground, but for potted plants I'm getting better at getting a nice plant with nice blue flowers. I'm currently mixing about about one third perlite, one third leaf mold, and one third of something like compost. To each gallon I add about three tablespoons of greensand, 3/4 tablespoon of sulfur, 3/4 tablespoon of Aluminum sulphate, 1/2 tablespoon of rock phosphate, and 1/2 tablespoon of blood meal. I let it sit for weeks if I can so that things settle down. Next Spring early in the spring when the plant comes alive, I'll give it a drench of Aluminum sulphate mixed with water, one or two tablespoons in a gallon. Two weeks later I might do it again and then watch the flowers as they open to see if I might add a bit more. Something like that. If I should see a need for fertilizer, I'll give it some Osmocote or Miracle Grow.

I'm telling you what I do and most of my plants seem to be doing well, but I just know that I could improve my method a lot. Sometimes the soil seems too heavy and doesn't drain as well as I like. I think if I don't let the soil sit for a while it's not healthy. But I'm determined to make the perfect soil for them... and fro me who is determined to do it as cheaply as I can. Anyone have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

I think that trying to get plants blue in the soil is more difficult and I run around in the spring giving them all a drench of Aluminum Sulphate (2 tablespoons per gallon ) every couple of weeks for three times maybe. Results vary.

I do it the hard way. Here is Mike Dirr's easy way:

(This is an excerpt of his book that I found being reviewed on this site)

Blue or pink colors are predicated on the amount of aluminum in the soil solution which can be absorbed by the roots. Although pH is often listed as the agent of color change, it is actually an instigator of (a precursor to) the process. If soils are acid, aluminum is available; if more alkaline, then aluminum is tied up in insoluble forms and not readily available for uptake.

So the true story is that high acidity, i.e., low pH, solubilizes (or makes available) aluminum; the reverse occurs at low acidity (high alkalinity), i.e., high pH. Excess phosphorus in the soil will also tie up the aluminum in insoluble precipitates, even in acid soils. Hydrangea macrophylla grown in pine bark medium, pH 5 to 6, are typically pink. Why? The acidity is high, but almost no aluminum is present in the substrate (bark). Soil is composed of minerals, typically aluminum, silicon, iron, etc., and therein resides the difference.

So how do growers produce blue hydrangeas in pine bark? Aluminum sulfate is added to the surface of the container at a prescribed rate, usually 0.75 to 1.5 ounces evenly distributed on the surface of the 3-gallon container medium. Greenhouse growers also apply it as a drench at the rate of 2.4 ounces per gallon solution with 8 ounces applied as a drench per 6-inch container. Greenhouse treatments start at budbreak and continue every 2 weeks for three additional applications.

Growers have variable timetables for application but in our work as soon as flower buds are visible, a single application at the 1.5 ounce rate per 3-gallon is made. Water thoroughly after application to ensure solubilization of the aluminum and movement into the root zone. Too much is worse than too little: I have dwarfed and killed plants with excessive applications. Hydrangea macrophylla displays a high tolerance to aluminum. Research showed that aluminum complexes with citric acid in the cell sap and may be detoxified in this manner.

Occasionally, elemental sulfur (flowers of sulfur) is recommended for acidifying the soil and thus mobilizing (solubilizing) aluminum. This is a borderline crazy approach and slow to effect the desired change. If the soil pH is high, live with pink, rose, and red hydrangeas they are beautiful  or create raised beds, laden with acid organic matter, and apply aluminum sulfate that over time will lower pH and supply aluminum for ready blueing. Hydrangea macrophylla or H. serrata, in any shade of pink to red, is satisfying. Consider nature Âs gift to the garden, accept and enjoy. On the other hand, if soils are acid as lemons, lime may be added to raise the pH if pink, rose, and red flowers are desired.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Donna, I've bought most of my plants from Nantuckethydrangea.com as small cuttings. You need to be able to take care of small cuttings, but if you can do that then in a year you'll have a nice small plant with a flower and in a couple of years a nice potted hydrangea and in three a nice little shrub.
You should still get cuttings this time of year to root. Maybe look for wood that is not too hardened. It could be so late that they might need some extra care to get them through the winter.

But, in your zone, if you cut some of your new growth back and got cuttings you shouldn't lose any thing in terms of flowers next year, so it's not like you couldn't take the cuttings and if you succeed, then fine, but otherwise you won't have lost anything.

Good luck. Hay.

{{gwi:1016040}} really does have{{gwi:1016041}} When I first grew it, it came in pink and I really wasn't as fond of it. But I really do like the blue version. I think this is the same flower, beginning to end.

I still struggle with potting soil, and I'm always thinking how I could improve it. After my last post, I went looking on the Container Garden forum for some insights into potting soil mixes. A poster there, Talpa, seems to have a lot better understanding of potting soil than I do and I think I need to understand and incorporate his thoughts in my potting mixes. He has started a long thread in which he talks about potting soil and answers a lot of questions that are asked.

I've got a lot to learn here and I thought that his thread was very helpful

Hay.

Here is a picture of a very nice pink hydrangea that I took a couple of days ago. The pink is a very pure pink and I never add any aluminum sulphate to the pot that it is in. This picture shows you most of the stages of the bloom.

I wish I could keep better track of some of these hydrangeas. It's the nicest pink but {{gwi:1016042}}

Hay.

Lovely...and those deeeep green leaves....yg

Hello Hay, it's great of you to offer so much information to all of us; I always enjoy reading your comments. I was especially happy to see something about Nigra. Picked up one a few years ago at a year-end nursery sale, was very slow to revive, and now finally the foliage is good. But I don't see any buds, and never even knew when it should bloom. Is it typically in bloom now? Maybe mine needs a touch more sun. Thanks again. Aunt Peach in Elgin, Ill.

Hi, Aunt Peach. Thank you. I've taken care of some beautiful gardens and plants and it's always bothered me that so few people get to see them. We're all like that, I think. And it may not be so obvious, but I really do get back more than I put into this forum.

Nigra is another of the hydrangeas that aren't really going to bloom for you in your zone 5 without some winter protection. All my plants that you see have been overwintered except for some Blue Billows and Endless Summers that will bloom in our zone. Go take a look at just the first post in the overwintering hydrangea threadif you want to see just exactly what I'm talking about.

Here's{{gwi:1016043}}. I'm very fond of using Sedums in hanging baskets and this time of year when many gardens are starting to go downhill, this one still has new attractions coming on. These hydrangeas are in too much sun and I didn't have the time to take care of this garden so much, so don't look too closely or you'll see that they're covered with crisp, burned flowers, have leaf spot, and could use some fertilizer, but if you stand back and squint your eyes, it looks just fine.

Hay.

Hay,

What a gorgeous setting...No squinting necessary. I remember this property very well from a photo that you posted a while back, only this one is missing the beloved hound. I liked it so much (the hound is a natural) that I made it into my Spring computer wallpaper!! Hope that's ok with you. It makes me think of simpler times with fewer cares and long lazy days. Funny, how a particular scene can transport the mind and soul to another place and time. Keep 'em comin, I love being transported away from all of these debits, credits, accruals and deferrals that comprise my nine to five!!!......yg

I'm flattered that you liked the picture enough to keep it on your screen, yg. I told Xena, but she didn't seem as impressed, and went right back to chewing on her stick.

I love Rotschwanz. It's one of my favorites so far. A lovely lacecap and part of the Teller Series named after birds as is Hydrangea Blaumeise. It's very pretty at it's peak, but the mopheads are usually so much nicer than the lacecaps as they go into the fall. To my eye, anyhow.

But here it is. {{gwi:1016045}}

Maybe not the prettiest when it ages, {{gwi:1016047}}

Hay.

Ok, just to add to the gallery of the color changes.

'Tokyo Delight' in early July:

TD in late July:

TD in August:

TD in September:

Rotschwanz is absolutely gorgeous Hay. I think EGOs' Tokyo Delight is a beautiful exception to the rule regarding lacecaps and Fall. July, August & Sept interest...what a knock out lacecap EGO......yg

YG, personaly I like serrata 'Grayswood' more than TD cause early color of fertile flowers is more prominent while fall color of sterile flowers is much deeper/richer burgundy. Also, leaves have a lemon(y) hint in them, so plant shines when sun hits it.
You could see it in first picture on a right side and back of TD. Extremely vigorous plant. What you see there is a 2 years old cuttings taken in the Fall'03.

Vigorous cutting is right! No blooms yet? I don't see any in either picture. Wish I could grow Serratas down here. There are a few cultivars I would just love to have. Oddly enough, my Lilacina (which reportedly and obviously has serrata blood) is just as full and lush as it was in May. No leaf deterioration, discoloration, or loss at all. This is her first season in my yard, but I'm told that her blooms last and last (till 1st frost?) with no fading. Any truth to that?.......yg

It has blooms this year on a lower branches that were 'original' cuttings + 2004 twiggy growth. Vertical shoots are 2005 growth. Early-Mid July:

How are they holding up now?...yg

Well, your question sent me to make a shot.
As of 5 minutes ago:

Everybody's monitor color resolution will be different, but in naked eye it's rich velvety burgundy color. I'm not sure if picture will allow to see, but a lot of leaves have a bright red tip.

Very nice pictures, George. Thanks.

I think your August picture of the Tokyo Delight shows something I'm noticing about hydrangeas. They go through a period in the second half of August where I think they look their worse. I think at that point a lot of people decide they're not so pretty anymore and deadhead them. But if people are patient, they'll get the reward of the fall reds like your September picture of Tokyo Delight.

(Do you take your plants in over the winter or do anything to overwinter them? Are you down close enough to the Sound to get the benefit of the ocean over the winter? Or are these ones particularly hardy? I hope you don't mind my asking)(And wasn't it you who started some Endless Summer cuttings sometime last year and had flowers in the middle of winter? When did you take those cuttings?)

And Yg, that's interesting that the Serratas don't do well for you. I think they're more native to higher mountains and that must be the reason, but here in the north, Blue Billow, a Serrata does very well all by itself overwintering outside, but I remember seeing that in overwintering tests done in North Carolina, Blue Billow failed. Interesting that we Northerners have an advantage here.

And speaking of {{gwi:1016049}}

Hay.

All the pictures are making me have hydrangea fever. Beautiful flowers. Are hydrangeas needy plant?
Jill

Hay, I live in town by the LI Sound, but my house is not on a sound itself, about 3-4 miles inland. Lower Fairfield county (SW CT) considered to be a warmer end of z6 and some z7 plants could be overwintered here in grounds in protected locations.
No, I don't do anything to protect hydrangeas in a winter and except after extremely cold ones like 2004, they all bloom. Nikko even managed to bloom on a new wood in September of 2004 after I cut it to the ground and divided in spring when it become obvious that no buds survived.

The man whose cuttings were blooming in a winter wasn't me. It was kenjorgensen from NJ.

You probably right about serratas. They seems to like our New England climate and I see them blooming everywhere, even in full sun at the road dividers in open to all winds locations, like this Preziosa for example:

Thanks, George.

I'm looking at my Endless Summers and thinking that maybe I should take some cuttings now. I don't know how successful I'd be, but it sure would be nice to start a thread in January, "Hydrangea Winter Flower Pictures".

I'm up in the Northwest Corner, and I'm probably zone 5. Here, you don't see much of anything consistently blooming. I've seen huge specimens of flowering Preziosas south of here in Waterbury and I've seen a huge monster of a Nikko type up against someone's house in Bristol that was simply covered with blooms each year. I think the limit for these must fall somewhere between you and me. They were well established, and that must help, too.

I bet that being 3 or 4 miles from the Sound is still a big advantage for you. Beats 50 or 60 miles!!

Jill, for you, the Oakleafs are native to your area and are wonderful plants with a lot of interesting varieties. They don't always work as well for us this far North. Paniculatas and Arborescens would work, too.

The problem with the blue and pink Macrophyllas and Serratas is that they mostly bloom on "old wood", and that means you've got to get a bud through a long winter and then in the Spring when it breaks dormancy, you've got to hope that you won't get a late frost. They need lots of water and they're very susceptible to fungus of all sorts. Yeah, they're easy!! Good luck.

Hay.

Hay,

I haven't actually tried to grow a Serrata, but reputable sources (including Dirrs book) put it's hardiness to zone 8, so as with Annabelle, I have resisted the temptation to buy in order to avoid another heart/head ache and as I mentioned in another thread, as a rule of thumb, if they are happy in zone 5, they aren't usually thilled with zone 9.

That Blue Billow is the most magnificent shade of baby blue. Glad you can grow it without much trouble up there. For all of your efforts, you deserve at least one or two easy bloomers! Speaking of winter flowers..my plants have set buds that are starting to break again, so it looks like I might again have a late fall/winter crop. Amazing.

EGO...That Nikko did pretty well, but having that kind of backdrop doesn't hurt either!! ......yg

oops....not only are they not "thilled" with zone 9, but they aren't usually "thrilled" with it either....yg

When I said that Jill should try Arborescens and Paniculatas, maybe I'm wrong. If yg has a problem with her Annabelles, then maybe Jill would, too. Next time I'll let someone in the South answer.

yg, I'd be curious to know if you can get any good Hydrangea fall colors in the heat of the South. Even here in the North, if I don't grow them in the shade, then the flowers are mostly an ugly shade of brown by late August. The ones that are still pretty have to have been in the shade all summer. And even with them, you can most times see some signs of fungus. But can you even hope to get any good fall flowers or do you, in the South, basically have to deadhead them in late summer?

That picture of Blue Billow might be a little misleading. So much depends on the whim of the camera in taking the pictures and flowers at different stages are always taking on different colors, but I think of Blue Billow as being a really hot, electric, neon blue in comparison to a Nikko, say. I don't think that picture is a good example.

I've been thinking of planting some Blue Billows at the top of a retaining wall, but I don't know how it will look from the bottom of the wall. But if Blue Billow looks like Blaumeise from underneath, then it'll be a winnner in the Fall. I love how the flower petals turn down in the fall with the lacecaps and when I cut some Blaumeise yesterday, I was struck by how pretty it looks from the underneath side.

{{gwi:1016051}}

Hay.

Hay,

Your advice to Jill is valid. HUGE difference between zones 7 and 9. Annabelles and paniculatas are supposed to be hardy to zone 8 although I think they like cooler zone 7 even better.

Your Blaumeise is almost the same stunning color that my Nikko types turned last year. Made for excellent dried blooms. (that still to this day are holding up) The fall color in my garden depends mostly on the same variables as yours. Namely, the sun. If I can keep the sun from prematurely browning them, I get wonderful late coloring. Of course some cultivars are better than others. Mdm Emile bloomed in late April/early May and I just finally deadheaded the last bloom a week ago after going through many color changes that finally led to a brown/brick tone. Her blooms lasted an exceptionally long time. If I get a second flush from her, those blooms will last even longer due to the lack of intense summer heat. Nikkos bloomed in May and although they were exposed to a bit more sun than I would like, the formerly blue blooms are still on the plants in pretty shades of blue/green, pink, purple with burgundy edges. I usually deadhead them in preparation for the fall bloom, but this year I decided to leave them on the plants. (I want to see how 'not' deadheading will effect the reblooming process) The fall crop of Nikko types which will probably come in October/November hold up and color up even better. (again, the coloring is like your Blaumeise). Here's something to ponder....I have noticed that the Nikko types exposed to more sun, (the Spring crop) tend to fade to lighter, more pinkish tones and the same plants in less sun (the fall crop) tend to fade to that deep aquamarine/purple color even though they both start off blue. I wonder why this is so. I'll have to pay closer attention to the conditions, next season, that might cause this. (when I'm not busy running around trying to find ways to keep the sun off of my hydrangeas!!).....yg

Thanks, yg. That's very interesting to me and helps me a lot.

I've noticed, too, that being in the sun tends to have the flower colors wash out to a pinkish tone in contrast to the ones in the shade that are much nicer, deeper colors. When I gather the flowers in the fall for dryed flowers the ones grown in the shade are so much nicer than the ones exposed to the sun, even on the same plant and even to the extent, just like you saw in the picture just above of Blaumeise, that the individual petals look much nicer from the underneath, shady side.

Thanks. Hay.

I think this is possibly Glowing Embers. Just possibly. I don't know. And I've got other Glowing Embers that didn't color up like this at all. Why is this one so pretty? I don't really know if it's because it's some variety that does this nice fall color, but I do know that all summer long this one was a little on the lean side with the green color of it's leaves. They were paler. Tough looking, but paler. I thought I should have fertilized it more at the time. Is this lean look part of the reason it took on such a wonderful fall color? (And why do I always have more questions than answers?)

{{gwi:1016053}}

Hay

I'm new to this forum andt am thoroughly enjoying reading all the expert information. I have a beautiful established Nikko hydrangea and a few small ones given to me as gifts this past Spring. I did purchase a Lady in Red and hope it makes it over the winter. Anyway, I thought I would share an idea I came on quite by accident. When frost was predicted for my area, I ran out and picked all the hydrangeas in bloom (Nikko) and brought them in, laid them out on the top of my washer and also the dryer. There were in various stages when brought in and after 2 or 3 days, I needed to move them. I happened to come across a straw wreath in the basement, and with just the greening pins, made a beautiful hydranga wreath in about half an hour. The straw form is completely covered and I dried a few leaves and spaced them evenly around the outside edge - If I decide to leave the leaves in permanently, I will hot glue them, but haven't decided yet. The wreath looks great like it is and if I could get my digital camera working again and learn how to post photos, i would do so but don't hold your breath - I'm not very computer literate. Thought you all might want to make the most of those last blooms too. And Hay, your pictures are just gorgeous - I could sit and look at them all day.

Faith

Thanks Hayseedman...you really know your Hydrangeas!

Thank you Faith and Ashli. I'm glad you enjoy the pictures.

I love making wreathes. The dried flowers are tough and not at all fragile like you might think. I've even gotten very fond of the faded creamy coffee color that they eventually become.

Hay.

Saved the best for last.

Jen said that I could post this very nice Fall picture from her visit to England.

{{gwi:1016055}}

Thank you, Jen.
Hay.

very nice....yg

I would like to recommend a Hydrangea, 'Freudenstein', for you.

I got mine at www.nantuckethydrangea.com where I've got many interesting varieties as small cuttings.

{{gwi:1016057}}

I took some pictures a few days ago.

{{gwi:994520}}

And I moved Freudenstein in front of some other plants and got this

{{gwi:994522}}

It's a good time of year for the fall colors of hydrangeas.

Along the roadside I'm always seeing some old planting of a PG and they've been in a half-pink, half-white stage for a while. They're really in their prime and it's nice seeing the really large ones all over.

Hay.

Very nice, Hay.
Are they in considerable sun to produce such deep color so early, or light reflection off the siding makes them like this?
I'm asking because most of mine planted in shade to part-shade not even close to the fall stage yours already are.