Wednesday 11 March 2015

Growing Colourful Hydrangea In My Garden

I have always like Hydrangea flowers and I was very happy to receive some stem cuttings from a friend many years ago. Initially, I started with one pot of Hydrangea. Now I have 3 pots of Hydrangea plants in my garden.
Hydrangea or Hortensia Macrophylla is an evergreen, flowering shrub.

Hydrangea thrives in fertile garden soil. The soil has to be moist and well-drained so as not to cause root rot, which will cause the plant to die. If the soil is too dry, the plant will wilt and die.
I first planted my first plant in a pot. At that time, I have very little knowledge about gardening. I remembered my first potted Hydrangea plant hardly bloom and even when it did bloom, the bloom were very small.
I then transferred my Hydrangea plant from the pot to the ground. It grew bushy and were full of leaves but hardly bloom. I was disappointed but refused to give up on the plant. Later, when I wanted to rearrange my potted plants, I dug out my Hydrangea plant and potted them into 3 pots.
I placed the pots under the shade of my side window awning. They still have the morning sun on them. I started to pay more attention on them and I watered and fertilize them regularly. One morning, I noticed sign of flowering on my plants. I was so encouraged and every day, I would go and take a look at the new bloom.
The colour of the Hydrangea flowers depends on the acidity of the soil. If the soil is more on the acidic side, the flowers would be more on the blue to purple side. If the soil is on the alkaline side, then the flowers would be more on the pink to deep pink side.
The 3 pots of Hydrangea were from the same mother plant and grown from stem cuttings taken from the same plant. Now the flowers from the 3 pots are of different colours and they are shown here in the photos.
The flowers are very closely clustered together like a bouquet and the flowers cluster are formed at the end of the stems. Every single flower has 4 petals.

Hydrangea plants can be grown as ornamental plants as well as for landscaping. Hydrangea are grown for its showy flowers. The flowers can last many weeks.

In the plant nurseries, I have seen small Hydrangea plants with big flower clusters and the flower petals are also very big ones compared to those in my garden.

There were times I was so tempted to buy one of those bigger petals, but somehow I did not buy because my 3 potted Hydrangea are now blooming well.

Preferably, the plants be placed in semi shady place, away from direct sunlight for them to flourish.

My Hydrangea plants need regular watering. If they were not watered in the morning before the morning sun shine on them, the leaves and flowers will wilt and droop. If the plants are watered in time, the leaves and flowers will be restored. But if it is not watered in time, the leaves and flowers will dry up. The leaves would then have burnt tips and the flowers would no longer be fresh and pretty.
My Hydrangea plants just love lots of water, as long as the soil is well drained.

After the flower clustered had dried up, the stem can be cut back for new stems to grow and to encourage new blooms. Or else, the plants will look untidy and leggy stems since my plants are potted ones and the flower clusters would be too heavy for the leggy stems.
Sometimes, I need to tie and support the stems so that they will not sag under the weight of the flower clusters.
I have just found out that all parts of the Hydrangea plant are toxic/poisonous if ingested. The leaves are actually being processed and used in some parts of the world as herbal drink for treatment, etc. A word of caution, those who do so, do so at their own risk.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea
are being tamed and have been tamed by man,
but no man can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our LORD and Father,
and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.
My brothers, this should not be.
(James 3:7-10, New International Version-NIV)

40 comments:

  1. they're beautiful. i've seen them on blogs but have never tried growing any.

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  2. Hydrangeas are big beautiful and showy plants. And yours are thriving, so beautiful! You can make anything grow! We have one in our front yard that blooms, but never grows, it stays small.

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    1. Hi Ginny, some plants stay small and there is no need to prune or trim them.

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  3. Nancy, I have always loved Hydrangeas! They are so beautiful. So far I have only seen the purple ones. One day I will try to buy from the nursery.

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    1. Phong Hong, yes, try the ones in the nursery...the petals are big and beautiful.

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  4. To wake up every day with these beauties outside your window? Wow. That's the life.

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    1. Hi Lux, the plants are outside my son's rooms. I will have to go to the garden to see the plants and they will greet me with their pretty blooms.

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  5. Gorgeous flower shots.

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  6. The flowers are so pretty. I learn something interesting today from you, that the colours of the flowers depend on the acidity of the soil.

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    1. Hi Mun, yes and the type of fertilizer can also change the acidity of the soil.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. They are so lovely. Heard it's hard to plant leh. need a lot of care

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    1. Hi S.Kuching, Quite easy to plant, just that they need lots of water, good drainage soil and regular fertilizing.

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  9. Another toxic plant haha. I bought this one too... had beautiful blooms upon purchase. Now, one year later, just one more flower bloomed since then. Oh well, better than nothing.

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    1. Hi Stacy, you need to feed more fertilizer to this plant for it to bloom more.

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  10. Hi Nancy, where you bought the hydrangea from? It's difficult to find in Singapore.

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    1. Hi Jane, I got the cuttings from my friend. You can get these plants from the plant nurseries. I saw some plants here in Ipoh. Those sold in nurseries are of bigger flower clusters.

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    2. oic. I come from Ipoh but currently i working in singapore. But i heard it's difficult to grow...

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    3. Hi Jane, sorry for late reply. This plant needs cool place with semi shade. It doesn't like full sun. Need fertilizer to grow and flower.

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    4. Plus it needs watering and need to keep the soil moist.

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  11. What do you fertilize them with?

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    1. So sorry for late reply. I only use fertilizers for plant growth and healthy leaves and also for flowers. No specific brand of fertilizers.

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  12. Hi Nancy , Im Evelyn from ipoh, just want to know where can I buy these hydrangea?

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    1. Hi Evelyn, you can find hydrangea plants in the plant nurseries. Sometimes they may not have stock, but you can request for them to order for you.

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  13. Hi! Thanks for writing this post I enjoyed reading it. I just got a pot of hydrangeas and am very worried abt how to keep it thriving.. how often do u fertilize them? The nursery guy advised me not to fertilise while they are flowering.

    Also, do you leave them indoors (by thw windows) all the time or you do bring them out to sun from time to time?

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    1. The pots are kept from direct sunlight in the garden. I only fertilize them sparingly.

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  14. Hi! Must i water the plant daily? And what type of fertiliser to give the plant?

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    1. In my case, my plants needed daily watering because they are in pots. I use the normal fertilizers for flowers and for growth of plants.

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  15. Hi I have inherit 2 hydrangea pots but it just keep growing tall , for about a year, but no blooms. Will you please advise what can I do to help it bloom?

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    1. For a start, I would suggest that you start to feed one pot of hydrangea with flowering fertilizer. And for the other pot, you can trim back the hydrangea and then start to feed it with flowering fertilizer, every 2 weeks once. Place about a teaspoon of fertilizer away from the plant, best is to the edge of the pot. Be patient, hopefully one of them will start to bud and flower. If the one which has been trimmed started to flower faster, then you can then trim the other plant. I hope this will work for you.

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    2. Thank you Nancy for your reply. can share with me the flowering fertilizer you are using? Eg Brand ?
      Is it in solution form or in round beads.

      Do you know what type of soil mix is good for hydrangea? I will like to repot, cos since the hydrangea given to me, I haven't dare to remove any soil.

      Greatly appreciate your advice. :)
      God Bless

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    3. I don't use any particular brand of flowering fertilizer. I just ask for flowering fertilizer and the shop owner will recommend. Over here, I just buy premixed soil from the nearby nursery. I am sorry I can't be of much help here.

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  16. Hi Nancy, your hydrangeas are lovely, I just fall in love in hudrangeas after seeing these pictures, if there is a seedlings, may i get one or 2 from you?

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    1. Hello, sorry to inform that I no longer have the hydrangea plants. Something went wrong with the soil and the 2 plants died.

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  17. What a waste, sorry to hear that.

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