Hydrangeas

Well good luck. Mine never blooms as well as my neighbours, much to my annoyance. I don't know why. I wait eagerly each year hoping mine will win! But no. Maybe next year....

We have lots of hydrangeas. One I inherited from my mother. It was lovely in her garden as she religiously emptied the washing up water over it. I think hydrangeas like a lot of water. Also we have the soil that turns them blue .

annep1 Do you feed your hydrangea and water it regularly? I give mine Miraclegro every spring and plenty of water, but the weather conditions also make a difference. One of mine has gone completely bonkers this year with huge mop heads like dinner plates, and has grown about 2 feet since last year.

They need plenty of water , mine get any tea left in the pot , cold of course !

Sparklefiz
That's beautiful.
I can't seem to grow them. They get to about 2ft with a few flowers then the next year either no flowers or dead.

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A selection of my favourite Hydrangeas . The purple one in the pot is as a result of manipulating the ph of the soil it’s planted in, otherwise it would be pink like the others. I live very close to the coast and think the sea air must suit them.

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Where did my photos disappear too ?

Oooop sorry they’re back !

annodomini, I don't know if there is a Lidl near you, but I bought two small hydrangeas in pots there, for £1.99 each at the beginning of the summer.
I forgot to water them for a few days and they started to die off. .
However, I managed to recue and repot them and they are growing like nothing on earth, with beautiful pink flowers.
My other hydrangeas are blue and purple, so this is an added bonus.

I enjoy having flowers in the house and the make beautiful cut flowers.

Gilly, they are beautiful.

My one hydrangea is spindly with a few large flowers, the other us thick, green and bushy, only two large blooms. I remember giving them a prune in the last two years but can't not when. Should I just leave the bushy one this year and prune the spindly one really hard to encourage growth? Thankyou.

I've grown to love hydrangeas. I've three in pots doing well this year. Two bought from reject shelf and resuscitated and an Annabelle given for my birthday a couple of years ago.

I never prune mine.

Yours are magnificent Gillybob.

We have hydrangeas in large pots and planted out. The Gardener’s World programme last week had an item on taking cuttings. I might try today as it is cooler and currently drizzling here in Herts.

I bought 6 potted hydrangeas from a Homebase closing down sale for £1 each 2 years ago they are dotted around in pots. The ones in full sun seem to be doing better than the ones in partial shade. Some of them are turning pink, they have conical shaped flowers, I don’t know the variety. I think they are getting too big for the pots so may have to pot on when they have died down for the winter.

I took cuttings a fortnight ago but the excessive heat has, I fear, killed them off so I intend to start again today.
Next year's flowers are already present so if you prune them now you lose next year's flowers.

Fabulous photos everybody. I prune mine religiously each Spring. I planted 4 of them and thought they would probably do well as many people in this area have got beautiful Hydrangeas so they must like the soil, poor though it is.

gillybob What a pretty garden you have!

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I also love Hydrangeas. I can’t stop buying them from the sad plant section and brining them back to life.
All mine are grown in pots, for the moment!

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Loved seeing the varieties everyone else has. Here’s some more of mine.

Beautiful photos everyone.
No I don't water or feed it Sparklefizz . I didn't think I needed to. It's been planted ten years and used to bloom better.
Will do now.

annep1 Perhaps we were having wetter summers previously, so your hydrangea coped. they really do need plenty of water. This is what it says online:

^Result for meaning of name hydrangea
First discovered in Japan, the name hydrangea comes from the Greek "hydor," meaning water, and "angos," meaning jar or vessel. This roughly translates to "water barrel," referring to the hydrangea's need for plenty of water and its cup-shaped flower.

If anyone goes to Windermere in the Lake District there is a lovely hydrangea garden within walking distance of the town which is worth a visit.

The message I'm getting here is that I should find some bargain basement potted hydrangeas and grow them on! I do have a prolific petiolaris which doesn't seem to need any encouragement, but a mop-head, which I bought in a pot, sulked for several years after I planted it out. Last year it bloomed well but this year it has just one very large bloom. I have tried talking to it - perhaps I said the wrong thing.