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Home > Archive > UK gardening > March 2007 > Keeping hydrangea blue
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Keeping hydrangea blue
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| Snowflake 2007-03-27, 1:25 pm |
| I have been given a present of a blue hydrangea because I do not like
pink and the donor says there is a way to keep it blue but cannot
remember how. Any help is appreciated and the plant is to survive in
North of Scotland.
Ailsa
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"Snowflake" <ailsa.mackay@tesco.net> wrote in message
news:1175012745.667762.90440@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
>I have been given a present of a blue hydrangea because I do not like
> pink and the donor says there is a way to keep it blue but cannot
> remember how. Any help is appreciated and the plant is to survive in
> North of Scotland.
> Ailsa
Keep the soil acid isn't it?
Geoff
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| On 27 Mar 2007 09:25:45 -0700, Snowflake wrote:
> I have been given a present of a blue hydrangea because I do not like
> pink and the donor says there is a way to keep it blue but cannot
> remember how. Any help is appreciated and the plant is to survive in
> North of Scotland.
> Ailsa
There are blueing powders in the garden centres based on aluminium
sulphate(?) I think.
There are also claims that sticking (iron/steel) nails among the roots does
the same thing. The colours are the opposite way to litmus paper so you are
looking towards an acid soil.
I am trying a mixture of iron and aluminium roofing nails, but I did put
them there before the winter.
If all the hydrangeas in your street are pink, you may be in for a long
battle :o)
--
Jim S
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscott.co.uk
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| judith.lea99@googlemail.com 2007-03-27, 1:25 pm |
| On Mar 27, 5:35 pm, Jim S <j...@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:
> On 27 Mar 2007 09:25:45 -0700, Snowflake wrote:
>
>
> There are blueing powders in the garden centres based on aluminium
> sulphate(?) I think.
> There are also claims that sticking (iron/steel) nails among the roots does
> the same thing. The colours are the opposite way to litmus paper so you are
> looking towards an acid soil.
> I am trying a mixture of iron and aluminium roofing nails, but I did put
> them there before the winter.
> If all the hydrangeas in your street are pink, you may be in for a long
> battle :o)
> --
> Jim S
> Tyneside UKhttp://www.jimscott.co.uk
Jim, I've tried your method, mine still flower as pink!!! The only
ones that do come up a beautiful blue colour each year, without any
additives, are the Japanese ones.
Judith
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| On 27 Mar 2007 09:49:17 -0700, judith.lea99@googlemail.com wrote:
> On Mar 27, 5:35 pm, Jim S <j...@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Jim, I've tried your method, mine still flower as pink!!! The only
> ones that do come up a beautiful blue colour each year, without any
> additives, are the Japanese ones.
>
> Judith
Aaah. You have spoiled my anticipation :o(
I trust yours were blue to begin with?
--
Jim S
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscott.co.uk
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| judith.lea99@googlemail.com 2007-03-27, 1:25 pm |
| On Mar 27, 5:54 pm, Jim S <j...@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:
> On 27 Mar 2007 09:49:17 -0700, judith.le...@googlemail.com wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Aaah. You have spoiled my anticipation :o(
> I trust yours were blue to begin with?
> --
> Jim S
> Tyneside UKhttp://www.jimscott.co.uk- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
They were. I have taken cuttings of a white one which have all taken,
do you know if white have any problems keeping true?
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| On 27 Mar 2007 10:06:39 -0700, judith.lea99@googlemail.com wrote:
> On Mar 27, 5:54 pm, Jim S <j...@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:
>
> They were. I have taken cuttings of a white one which have all taken,
> do you know if white have any problems keeping true?
I have a feeling the white ones have little or no pigment to change. Having
said that I did have one which tinged with pink, like apple blossom, and was
quite pretty.
--
Jim S
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscott.co.uk
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| Chris Hogg 2007-03-27, 1:25 pm |
| On 27 Mar 2007 09:25:45 -0700, "Snowflake" <ailsa.mackay@tesco.net>
wrote:
>I have been given a present of a blue hydrangea because I do not like
>pink and the donor says there is a way to keep it blue but cannot
>remember how. Any help is appreciated and the plant is to survive in
>North of Scotland.
>Ailsa
You need an acid soil. I don't know the geology of your part of the
world in detail, but I don't recall much chalk or limestone up there.
Most of northern Scotland is pre-Cambrian. Do your neighbours grow
rhododendrons or azaleas? If so, your soil is probably OK anyway.
--
Chris
E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net
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| "Jim S" <jim@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1shjmir9kqlo3$.dlg@ID-104726.news.individual.net...
> The colours are the opposite way to litmus paper so you are
> looking towards an acid soil.
Acid turns pink litmus blue, alkali turns blue litmus pink.
> I am trying a mixture of iron and aluminium roofing nails, but I did put
> them there before the winter.
That's one way of reducing the acid content of the soil perhaps for acid
plus metal = salt plus water plus hydrogen and the salt will be leached out
by rain.
Before you do the next thing, check the ph of your soil. If it's good and
acid, do not bother any more.
If you have an alkaline soil, a young pink hydrangea and you would like it
blue, dig it up. dig a deepish and wide hole, put plenty of horse manure
compost, peat and ericacious soil in the hole get rid of as much soil from
the plants roots as is reasonable and carefully replant it. Watering with
the dregs of your teapot and mulching with all your neighbours' spent tea
leaves would not hurt.
The plant might stay blue for a few years.
By the way, it's not a good environmental practice to bury aluminium
especially if it's compounds might get into a pond with fish in it.
Geoff
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| judith.lea99@googlemail.com 2007-03-27, 1:25 pm |
| On Mar 27, 6:26 pm, "Geoff" <N...@virgin.net> wrote:
> Watering with
> the dregs of your teapot and mulching with all your neighbours' spent tea
> leaves would not hurt.
>
> The plant might stay blue for a few years.
Geoff, a serious question - neither my husband or I drink tea, we are
freshly ground coffee drinkers, would that do?
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> Geoff, a serious question - neither my husband or I drink tea, we are
> freshly ground coffee drinkers, would that do?
It will do no harm but I'm not sure about the acidity. I'll try to find my
box of indicator papers and check my next batch of coffee!
Watch this space!
Geoff.
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| Stewart Robert Hinsley 2007-03-27, 1:25 pm |
| In message <d0ki03dmjfh6bgic7l0ivpovvpmmvcil33@4ax.com>, Chris Hogg
<me@privacy.net> writes
>On 27 Mar 2007 09:25:45 -0700, "Snowflake" <ailsa.mackay@tesco.net>
>wrote:
>
>
>You need an acid soil. I don't know the geology of your part of the
>world in detail, but I don't recall much chalk or limestone up there.
>Most of northern Scotland is pre-Cambrian. Do your neighbours grow
>rhododendrons or azaleas? If so, your soil is probably OK anyway.
>
Much of northern Scotland has acidic soil, if not from the underlying
rock, then from the till and peat. However there is, for example, the
outcrop of the Durness Limestone, and there are other calcareous rocks
(IIRC, a calcarous sandstone, contemporaneous with the chalk of England
underlies the Tertiary Volcanics of Skye.) Other younger rocks are the
Devonian Old Red Sandstones that underlie much of lowland northern
Scotland.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley
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| judith.lea99@googlemail.com 2007-03-27, 1:25 pm |
| On Mar 27, 6:35 pm, "Geoff" <N...@virgin.net> wrote:
>
> It will do no harm but I'm not sure about the acidity. I'll try to find my
> box of indicator papers and check my next batch of coffee!
>
> Watch this space!
>
> Geoff.
Gosh, thank you!
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<judith.lea99@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:1175016598.678821.211510@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> On Mar 27, 6:26 pm, "Geoff" <N...@virgin.net> wrote:
>
> Geoff, a serious question - neither my husband or I drink tea, we are
> freshly ground coffee drinkers, would that do?
I found my narrow band indicator papers and just as my wife was about to
start a fresh brew, I managed to rescue to the last lot's grouts. I
pressed a piece of pH 4 to 6 paper in them and found the pH to be between 4
and 4.5. Anything less that pH 7 is considered to be acidic. So, coffee
grouts will add acidity to the soil with the added bonus of keeping the
hydrangeas awake!!!
I do not like tea either!
Geoff
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"Geoff" <NOJOY@virgin.net> wrote in message
news:91dOh.14281$5c2.135@newsfe3-win.ntli.net...
>
> I found my narrow band indicator papers and just as my wife was about to
> start a fresh brew, I managed to rescue to the last lot's grouts. I
> pressed a piece of pH 4 to 6 paper in them and found the pH to be between
> 4 and 4.5. Anything less that pH 7 is considered to be acidic. So,
> coffee grouts will add acidity to the soil with the added bonus of keeping
> the hydrangeas awake!!!
>
> I do not like tea either!
>
> Geoff
Starbucks give away pre-packed bags of old coffee to be used within the
garden
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| judith.lea99@googlemail.com 2007-03-27, 5:25 pm |
| On Mar 27, 7:04 pm, "Geoff" <N...@virgin.net> wrote:
> <judith.le...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1175016598.678821.211510@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
>
> I found my narrow band indicator papers and just as my wife was about to
> start a fresh brew, I managed to rescue to the last lot's grouts. I
> pressed a piece of pH 4 to 6 paper in them and found the pH to be between 4
> and 4.5. Anything less that pH 7 is considered to be acidic. So, coffee
> grouts will add acidity to the soil with the added bonus of keeping the
> hydrangeas awake!!!
>
> I do not like tea either!
>
> Geoff
Again, gosh and thank you. I am just off to brew a fresh pot!!
As for tea, yuk, stewed privet leaves would be preferable!
Judith
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| judith.lea99@googlemail.com 2007-03-27, 5:25 pm |
| On Mar 27, 7:28 pm, "Space" <s...@bt.internet.com> wrote:
> "Geoff" <N...@virgin.net> wrote in message
>
> news:91dOh.14281$5c2.135@newsfe3-win.ntli.net...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Starbucks give away pre-packed bags of old coffee to be used within the
> garden
Really??? We have a Starbucks in Norwich, I have a day off tomorrow
so no prizes for guessing where I will be having coffee.
Judith
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| Snowflake wrote:
> I have been given a present of a blue hydrangea because I do not like
> pink and the donor says there is a way to keep it blue but cannot
> remember how. Any help is appreciated and the plant is to survive in
> North of Scotland.
> Ailsa
>
I shouldn't use a dye if I were you,Snowflake.It does give a blue colour
but it looks artificial.
Instead use an ericaceous feed. They are inexpensive and on sale at
garden centres and large stores.
Just follow the simple instructions and you're home and dry.
Sam
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| Geoff <NOJOY@virgin.net> writes
>"Jim S" <jim@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:1shjmir9kqlo3$.dlg@ID-104726.news.individual.net...
>
>Acid turns pink litmus blue, alkali turns blue litmus pink.
Other way round. Litmus paper turns pink with acid.
As Jim said, hydrangea is opposite, so is blue in an acid soil.
>
--
Kay
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| Alan Holmes 2007-03-27, 8:25 pm |
|
"Snowflake" <ailsa.mackay@tesco.net> wrote in message
news:1175012745.667762.90440@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
>I have been given a present of a blue hydrangea because I do not like
> pink and the donor says there is a way to keep it blue but cannot
> remember how. Any help is appreciated and the plant is to survive in
> North of Scotland.
We used to scatter iron files around the plant, and that seemed to keep it
blue.
Alan
> Ailsa
>
| |
| Charlie Pridham 2007-03-28, 5:25 pm |
|
<judith.lea99@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:1175015199.542123.196840@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> On Mar 27, 5:54 pm, Jim S <j...@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:
like[color=darkred]
in[color=darkred]
roots does[color=darkred]
you are[color=darkred]
put[color=darkred]
long[color=darkred]
>
> They were. I have taken cuttings of a white one which have all taken,
> do you know if white have any problems keeping true?
>
Fraid so my whites come pink or blue or sometimes both but never white!
except the year I bought them
--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea
| |
| judith.lea99@googlemail.com 2007-03-28, 5:25 pm |
| On Mar 28, 8:16 pm, "Charlie Pridham" <charlie.prid...@lineone.net>
wrote:
> <judith.le...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1175015199.542123.196840@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
>
>
> like
> in
>
> roots does
> you are
> put
> long
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Fraid so my whites come pink or blue or sometimes both but never white!
> except the year I bought them
> --
> Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
> Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
> Lapageria rosea- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Charlie, how can they be kept white?
Judith
| |
|
| On 28/3/07 22:05, in article
1175115904.848375.165100@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com,
"judith.lea99@googlemail.com" <judith.lea99@googlemail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 28, 8:16 pm, "Charlie Pridham" <charlie.prid...@lineone.net>
> wrote:
<snip>
>
> Charlie, how can they be kept white?
>
> Judith
>
I wonder if it's something to do with older varieties for some reason. We
have a hydrangea bed and the white ones in that have been there a long time
and remain white, the blue stay blue etc. except for one I bought a few
years ago called something like Moewe. When I saw the photo of it it was
the most glorious blue but here, it's just a sort of horrible, muddy brick
colour. I must remember to get some of that stuff to treat it with.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)
| |
|
| I've used narrow band indicator papers and various liquid indicators for so
long I'd forgotten about litmus!!
G
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| Charlie Pridham 2007-03-29, 1:25 pm |
|
<judith.lea99@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:1175115904.848375.165100@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> On Mar 28, 8:16 pm, "Charlie Pridham" <charlie.prid...@lineone.net>
> wrote:
>
> Charlie, how can they be kept white?
>
> Judith
On my soil I don't think they can!! I will admit they are a pale blue and a
pale pink and actually quite pretty but a consigned to the corner of the
orchard because neither of us like mophead hydrangeas
--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea
>
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| Dave Hill 2007-03-29, 5:25 pm |
| On 29 Mar, 08:39, Sacha <s...@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
> On 28/3/07 22:05, in article
> 1175115904.848375.165...@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com,
>
>
>
> "judith.le...@googlemail.com" <judith.le...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> <snip>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I wonder if it's something to do with older varieties for some reason. We
> have a hydrangea bed and the white ones in that have been there a long time
> and remain white, the blue stay blue etc. except for one I bought a few
> years ago called something like Moewe. When I saw the photo of it it was
> the most glorious blue but here, it's just a sort of horrible, muddy brick
> colour. I must remember to get some of that stuff to treat it with.
> --
> Sachahttp://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
> South Devonhttp://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
> (remove weeds from address)
I seem to remember being told to plant some old iron, such as rusty
nails etc under a hydranga so it would keep its colour
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
| |
|
| On 29/3/07 21:41, in article
1175200895.682520.207680@r56g2000hsd.googlegroups.com, "Dave Hill"
<david@abacus-nurseries.co.uk> wrote:
<snip>
>
> I seem to remember being told to plant some old iron, such as rusty
> nails etc under a hydranga so it would keep its colour
> David Hill
> Abacus Nurseries
>
That is indeed an old trick that my grandfather used. But the white ones??
I just don't know and I'm not digging them up to find out!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)
| |
| Draven 2007-03-30, 9:25 am |
|
"Alan Holmes" <alan_holmes@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:sTgOh.8427$F82.8202@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
>
> "Snowflake" <ailsa.mackay@tesco.net> wrote in message
> news:1175012745.667762.90440@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...
>
> We used to scatter iron files around the plant, and that seemed to keep it
> blue.
>
> Alan
>
>
Water the plant with Aluminium Sulphate and it will stay blue?
| |
|
|
>On 29/3/07 21:41, in article
>1175200895.682520.207680@r56g2000hsd.googlegroups.com, "Dave Hill"
><david@abacus-nurseries.co.uk> wrote:
><snip>
In message <C231E68A.4812B%sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk>, Sacha
<sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk> writes[color=darkred]
>That is indeed an old trick that my grandfather used. But the white ones??
>I just don't know and I'm not digging them up to find out!
I saw a magical display in a vineyard villa in the Italian Lakes years
ago: they had what must once have been a large shallow round fountain,
now dry. This was completely filled with hydrangeas in pots, as many as
fitted - and their gardener must have done something different to the
soil in each, because although the plants looked very similar, they
ranged in all possible shades from pink though lilac to blue....
--
Klara, Gatwick basin
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| On 30/3/07 21:58, in article leY8nKXFoXDGFA$q@comcrafts.demon.co.uk, "Klara"
<klara.king@nospams.co.uk> wrote:
>
> In message <C231E68A.4812B%sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk>, Sacha
> <sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk> writes
>
> I saw a magical display in a vineyard villa in the Italian Lakes years
> ago: they had what must once have been a large shallow round fountain,
> now dry. This was completely filled with hydrangeas in pots, as many as
> fitted - and their gardener must have done something different to the
> soil in each, because although the plants looked very similar, they
> ranged in all possible shades from pink though lilac to blue....
And you're going to tell us you can't remember the name of the garden......?
;-) A living rainbow, how lovely!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)
| |
|
| In message <C2334FCE.483B0%sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk>, Sacha
<sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk> writes
>
>And you're going to tell us you can't remember the name of the garden......?
>;-) A living rainbow, how lovely!
What a lovely way to describe it: that's exactly what it was like! If
you add the balmy air heavy with the scent of flowering olive groves,
the beautiful old villa with medieval reliefs, up in the hills somewhere
above Bergamo, it doesn't even begin to describe the enchantment of the
place. The name of the garden? It was the summer villa of a
school-friend (she had been sent to our convent boarding-school in the
States to learn English, but I think we all learned rather more
Italian!), and alas, now I only have her Milan address ... do the
Italians have an Open Gardens scheme, I wonder?
--
Klara, Gatwick basin
| |
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| On 31/3/07 15:49, in article SkiRJ4$tTnDGFAbr@comcrafts.demon.co.uk, "Klara"
<klara.king@nospams.co.uk> wrote:
> In message <C2334FCE.483B0%sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk>, Sacha
> <sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk> writes
>
>
> What a lovely way to describe it: that's exactly what it was like! If
> you add the balmy air heavy with the scent of flowering olive groves,
> the beautiful old villa with medieval reliefs, up in the hills somewhere
> above Bergamo, it doesn't even begin to describe the enchantment of the
> place. The name of the garden? It was the summer villa of a
> school-friend (she had been sent to our convent boarding-school in the
> States to learn English, but I think we all learned rather more
> Italian!), and alas, now I only have her Milan address ... do the
> Italians have an Open Gardens scheme, I wonder?
Il Libro Giallo is a thriller type novel in Italian, so I wonder what they'd
call an Open Gardens Guide.? ;-) I'll ask my sil.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)
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