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Hydrangea colour issue
shoecake
Posts: 13
I am very confused, I bought a small hydrangea zorro early this year and planted in a spare patch with ericaceous compost (im takling a large very overgrown but once much loved garden at our new house) I have tested the soil and it is acidic, I have borders full of camellia and rhododendrons however my hydrangea is flowering the brightest pink I've ever seen which has left me very confused can anybody help? I wondered if the position in the garden could effect it or justuas it's such a young plant or even if it will turn blue as the flowers progress? Any help appreciated, thank you Rachel 
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Posts
Are you watering with tap water or rainwater as this can effect the the soil ph and so the colour of the flower. High availabilty of aluminium as in high ph should turn the flower blue. Maybe just need to settle into its new surroundings.
Acidic soil alone is not enough to guaranty blue flowers. As Bushman says, it's the aluminium that makes them blue. The acidic soil makes aluminium available to the plant instead of locking it away in minerals that the plant cannot use. But if there is no, or little, aluminium in the soil in the first place, you'll still get pink flowers.
There are mineral supplements they sell at the GC that you can give to the plant. It's a bit of a bore, but they do work (on acidic soil)
You may find, like my pink or white ones, that over a few years they turn to a dirty lilac, then almost purple then blue.
How do you mean Verdun?
do they not all change then, my vanilla fraise is planted out, hope that stays pink! Never thought when I put it out.
Lyn, your Vanille Fraise will stay pink, it is a cultivar of H. paniculata, and paniculatas do not change colour with the ground, it's the macrophyllas that do that (and the serrata, up to a point).
But it's true, that some varieties of macrophylla re better able to express good blues or pinks, and some do well in both spectrums.
They are knda fickle, those hydrangeas, but I love them
Zorro is a fairly vigurous variety, it will come up fine once it's settled, and will be beautiful any colour. I have a young one too, I love the dark stems... make it very glamourous