Posted on by tonytomeo · 2 Comments

Blue or Pink

As a native of the Santa Clara Valley, I am still impressed by blue feral hydrangeas.

Hydrangeas were so much more predictable only a few decades ago. They were either colored or white. White was obviously white. In the Santa Clara Valley, colored was pink. We knew them as colored only because they technically had potential to be blue, whether or not we actually saw it. Application of aluminum sulfate was necessary for blue floral color. Such color was only temporary, and could fade in the process of bloom if the dosage of aluminum sulfate was inadequate. Consequently, blue hydrangeas were rare. However, within the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the south and west of the Santa Clara Valley, most colored hydrangeas were blue. Application of lime was necessary to make them pink. Just like blue floral color within the Santa Clara Valley, pink floral color within the redwood forests was only temporary, and could fade in the process of bloom if the dosage of lime was inadequate. Nowadays modern hydrangeas are not so sensitive to soil pH. Blue hydrangeas bloom a bit more purplish in the Santa Clara Valley, but are still mostly blue. Pink hydrangeas likewise bloom a bit more purplish in the Santa Cruz Mountains, but are still mostly pink.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 11 Comments

White Hydrangea

P90907KWhat ever happened to the formerly common white hydrangea? It used to one of the three standard types of hydrangea; and the other two were really variants of the same sorts of ‘pink or blue’ hydrangea that I wrote about in ‘Horridculture – True Colors‘. The few hydrangeas that are white nowadays are lacy, flat-topped, blushed . . . or anything but simple classic white.

This old fashioned simple white hydrangea is just as elegant now as it has always been. It is always white, without pretense of blue or pink. There is no point of giving it something it does not really need just to change its natural color (like those of us in the Santa Clara Valley do to make pink hydrangeas blue; or those of us in the Tualatin Valley do to make blue hydrangeas pink).

The bulky and almost spherically rounded form of this floral truss distinguishes this old fashioned type as a ‘mophead’ hydrangea. Nowadays, ‘lacecap’, ‘mountain’, ‘smooth’, ‘panicle’, ‘oakleaf’ and ‘climbing’ hydrangeas are the more popular types. There is certainly nothing wrong with contemporary types, but there is nothing wrong with the old fashioned ‘mophead’ types either.

When it is time to prune the hydrangeas this winter, we might take cuttings from this particular specimen, in order to grow a few copies of it. Pink and blue hydrangeas, which get fertilized accordingly (to maintain their desired colors), happen to suit the landscapes very nicely here, but a few more white hydrangeas would brighten the rich dark green of the forest splendidly.

Besides, the old fashioned simplicity and elegance of this old fashioned white mophead hydrangea seem to be more compatible with the old redwoods and other mature forest trees than the relative flashiness of modern cultivars that were popularized only in the past few decades.

Posted on by tonytomeo · 12 Comments

Hydrangea

80711There are so many more of the fancier cultivars of hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla, than there were as recently as the 1990s. Many of the pink and blue hydrangeas were interchangeable years ago. They would bloom blue if the soil was acidic. They would bloom pink if the soil was alkaline. Their color changed accordingly when planted from potting media into soil of another pH.

Most of the modern cultivars nowadays are better at one color or the other. Those that want to be rich pink or almost red might turn lavender or purple in acidic soil. Those that want to be rich blue might do the same in alkaline soil. That makes for many hues of pink, blue, lavender and purple. Most of those that bloom white always bloom white, and their foliage might be a little lighter green.

There is also much more variety in floral form than ever before, although all bloom in summer or autumn with big rounded or nearly spherical trusses of many small flowers. The deciduous leaves are about six inches long, and pleasantly lush and glossy. Modern compact cultivars stay low and dense. Larger cultivars get about six feet high and wide, with somewhat open branch structure.

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pH Has Ups And Downs

80711thumbEnvironment is what determines what plants grow where. It may sound simple enough, but environment is a combination of many different factors, including but not limited to climate, soil quality and exposure. Each of these factors is a complicated combination of other factors. For example, climate includes temperature, humidity, rainfall, frost dates, winter chill duration, wind and so on.

Home gardening, like the production of horticultural and agricultural commodities, is obviously limited by environment. Plants that want rich soil with good moisture retention are not happy in clay or inert sandy soils. Annual vegetable and flower plants that do not tolerate frost are grown after the last frost, and finish before the first frost. Annual plants that survive frost are grown in between.

Environmental modifications, such as irrigation, fertilizers and other soil amendments, make it possible to grow what would not normally grow in particular environments. However, environmental modifications are not always practical. For example, if the cost of irrigation of a particular commodity might exceed the projected revenue of that crop, an alternative crop must be grown instead.

pH (the ‘power of hydrogen’) is another one of the many limiting environmental factors. It is what makes the soil acidic or alkaline. Some plants prefer the soil to be slightly acidic with low pH. Some are more tolerant of slight alkalinity with high pH. What we choose to grow in our gardens should be adaptable to the pH of the endemic soil, whether it is acidic, alkaline or close to neutral.

There are all sorts of fertilizers and soil amendments that can modify the pH somewhat if necessary. Such amendments make it possible to grow rhododendrons and azaleas and other plants that prefer slightly acidic soil where the soil is naturally slightly alkaline. The problem is that the adjustments of pH are not permanent, so must be maintained. In many situation, major modification of pH is impractical. It is generally more practical to select plants that will be happy with the natural endemic pH.