Probably closest with your last statement. Purple colored mophead hydrangeas are usually a reflection of a soil that is close to neutral...neither too acidic nor too alkaline. And it is generally cultivars that would produce a vivid blue in acidic soils with adequate aluminum that take on the deeper purple hues.

And some cultivars are more stable in their coloring that others....typically those that tend to be pinks: Pia/Pink Elf, Glowing Embers, Teller Red, etc. Unless planted in very acidic soils, these tend to stay on the pink end of the scale.

i had a very old plant ... i used to randomly throw a banana peal and coffee grounds on one side of the plant ... and i would often have a half pink half blue plant ...

ken

must not have ever taken a pic of it.. heres my only pic

A friend of mine had the MOST gorgeous, deep purple hydrangea I have ever seen. She didn't know what kind it was, and it bloomed it's fool head off despite being overgrown, under trees, and neglected. I tried taking cuttings but I could never get them to take. Of course who knows if it would have been the same color in my yard. I can't believe how beautiful and huge these mophead blooms were. When I was selling flowers at the farmers market she would let me cut from her garden, and I would put one purple hydrangea, one stem of orange tiger lilies, and one stem of dill (she also grew the hugest dill I had ever seen, with big, chartreuse heads, as big as the hydrangea heads). The bouquet was stunning.

Unfortunately, she moved, and whoever bought the property put another house where her lovely garden was. That hydrangea was tucked literally in the farthest corner of the lot and I still wonder if it is still there. Wish I had taken pictures.

:)
Dee

Depends on variety and soil pH. I like the one in the foreground. Deep pink to purple and some blue hues.

Wow, loving all the varied colors here! I got a hydrangeas so many years ago I can't remember from where or whom, but it was a shared piece from another gardener, the standard blue variety. I have never seen it so blue as this year. Honestly I don't even really like it much, lol, as it's kind of jarring and doesn't go with much else in my garden. Almost a dark powder blue. Hubby likes it though. I much prefer the darker colors, and I find I'm also tending toward lacecaps as opposed to mopheads. Mopheads are admittedly spectacular, and I do have several, but the lacecaps are beautiful and elegant and delicate.

:)
Dee