This is what the color of your hydrangea says about your garden

Do you have a hydrangea in your garden, or do you often see one nearby? Chances are good! But have you ever really looked closely at those beautiful flowers? Some hydrangeas can magically change color. What does the color say about your garden?

The most common colors are white, pink, and blue. But there are also hydrangeas ( Hydrangea macrophylla ) that have both pink and blue flowers – two colors in one plant!
There are also colorfast varieties. For example, mophead hydrangeas ( 'Annabelle' varieties ) with white ray florets usually remain white. In white umbel-flowered varieties, only the small central florets discolor; the outer ones remain white.
A real eye-catcher is the Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight', a panicle hydrangea with lime-green flowers that later turn creamy white and pink.

Some hydrangeas have a special gift: they can change color. For example, your cheerful pink hydrangea might suddenly bloom blue later in the season. Surprise! This "joke" has everything to do with the soil. In acidic soil (with a low pH), the flowers turn blue. If the soil is alkaline (with a pH higher than 7), they turn pink.

The soil contains traces of all kinds of metals, but it's specifically aluminum that turns hydrangea flowers blue. Hydrangeas absorb aluminum more easily in acidic conditions, which is what gives them their blue color. It's that simple!

Adding more lime to the garden soil will lower its acidity, giving your hydrangea a pinkish hue. Making the soil more acidic with aluminum sulfate will give your hydrangea a bluer hue (although this is quite difficult!).

While soil acidity affects the color of some varieties, you don't need to worry about the location of your hydrangea. As long as you accept the fact that your plant might behave like a chameleon!

Hydrangeas are quite adaptable and thrive in most soil types. They do prefer a spot with some sun (but preferably not full sun) or partial shade.

Tip! Is your hydrangea not quite happy and blooming poorly? You can transplant hydrangeas in October or November: when the soil is still warm and moist, but the plant is dormant.