Taken in awfully dull and wet conditions on Wednesday, this hydrangea is in our front garden and is just beginning to flower. It was a gift from one of our neighbours. Like all the plants in our garden, we are hoping that it responds positively to neglect!
Hydrangea, commonly named the hortensia, is a genus of more than 70 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. Most are shrubs 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in – 9 ft 10 in) tall, but some are small trees, and others lianas reaching up to 30 m (100 ft) by climbing up trees. They can be either deciduous or evergreen, though the widely cultivated temperate species are all deciduous.
The flowers of many hydrangea act as natural pH indicators, sporting blue flowers when the soil is acidic and pink ones when the soil is alkaline.
A lovely shot! I used to sell hydrangeas with copper sulphate to turn pink to blue, it was a popular item I used to go through a lot of it in flowering season. :-)
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
The change of colour between pink and blue has been rather superceeded by the range of colours that can now be found in hydrangea flowers. I was quite surprised by the varieties available when I looked online.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
The change of colour between pink and blue has been rather superceeded by the range of colours that can now be found in hydrangea flowers. I was quite surprised by the varieties available when I looked online.
Ian
Thank you. It seems to be doing really well this year - it must like rain!
Ian
Thank you Vesna - I like the colour of this one.
Ian