Few blooms provide more showy appeal than Hydrangeas: long-blooming, with showers of magnificent clusters of colorful flowers. However, some of us may be wondering why that beautiful pink shrub that we planted last year has now turned a bright shade of blue! Hydrangeas may produce pink, blue, or lavender blooms, depending on where it’s planted and how it’s fed. The presence of aluminum in the plant ultimately determines the color, and pH affects the uptake of aluminum. Alkaline soils, pH of 6.0 or more, are more likely to produce pink blooms, and more acidic soils, pH 4.5 to 5.5, produce blue flowers.

You can change your bloom color to blue, pink or red with acidic or alkaline soil!

• Always test your soil before planting (Soil Test Kits are available online).
• Know your Hydrangea variety: white, panicle, and climbing Hydrangeas do not change color.
• In slightly acid or neutral soil (pH 6 to 7), blooms can be a mix of blue and pink on the same plant.
• If your soil pH is very high (alkaline) it will be harder to lower its concentration. Plant pink and white varieties only.

Acidic Soil (pH below 6) Blue flowers:

• Hydrangeas can be turned blue by applying aluminum sulfate to lower pH, adding available aluminum to the soil for plant uptake. To lower the pH of your soil, add Espoma® Soil Acidifier to alkaline soil by following label directions.

Alkaline soil (pH above 7) Pink or Red flowers:

• Applying lime to raise the pH level will help blue Hydrangeas turn pink. This is done by applying a high phosphorus fertilizer and/or Espoma® Garden Lime according to label directions.

PRO TIP: If your soil naturally produces very blue or very pink hydrangea flowers, you may need to grow your hydrangeas in containers or raised beds to achieve the desired color.

PRO TIP: If you do attempt to change the color of your blooms by adding these minerals, dilute them well, and add sparingly. It is very easy to scorch your plants by adding too much. Always follow the product’s application instructions for the safest and best results.

The September 3rd edition of the Wayside Gardens Gazette included a "Getting to Know You" survey. The very first question was a simple one, but it unleashed a lovely flood of fond memories and great gardening stories. The question: How did you first get interested in gardening? Many of the responses focused on family–mothers, fathers, grandparents, uncles, and aunts who made sure that the little ones got involved in gardening early on. Your friends at Wayside Gardens hope you'll enjoy these stories about how your fellow gardeners became gardeners.

Mothers
My mum was a great gardening and a Wayside shopper. She had saved a Wayside catalogue from 1959, which was the year she and my Dad bought a house, and she landscaped it herself with plants from Wayside. I looked through that catalogue for years, and when we finally bought a house, I was so pleased to find that Wayside was still there, ready to help me with my gardens.

I was 4 years old, and my Mom took me to a public rose garden. I have loved roses ever since, and started a garden when I was 6 years old. I am now 31.

Fathers
I helped my father plant the garden when I was 3 years old–many years ago! I grew up in rural Southwestern Michigan, a rich agricultural area. We always had a garden, and had fruit and vegetable growers all around us.

As a kid, I followed my Daddy around in his vegetable gardens. I guess gardening is in the genes.

Both my mother and my father had the proverbial "green thumb." Mom could grow anything indoors, and Dad did our garden (vegetable). Until I was seven years old, we worked in the garden and enjoyed the produce. Dad always told me that a garden is a sacred trust. I feel that way still!

I started following my Dad around his garden when I was old enough to walk, and this took off from there. I can't remember a time when flowers didn't stop me in my tracks.

Grandmothers
I lived in a big city, but my grandmother had a small garden. As a child, I loved to walk the little path through the garden and spent a lot of time playing there. I was delighted when the peonies bloomed in the spring, and attempted to plant some flowers and vegetables of my own. Since that time, I have always had some kind of garden, and keep a lot of houseplants. 

My great-grandmother and both of my grandmothers were passionate about their gardens. Great-grandma tended a vegetable garden and provided flowers for mass, during the spring and summer, well into her early nineties.

My grandmother gardened, and when I was little, I had my own flower boxes and little garden by my playhouse.

I remember when I was a child, my Gramma and Papa had a vegetable garden in their back yard. They were Swedish, so to go gardening, you put on your wooden shoes. I had my own pair at their house. They used to be my Dad's when he was a child. I was gardening with Gramma one time and pulled up a small carrot. She told me it wasn't ready, so I pushed it back in the ground, so it could continue to grow.

Grandfathers
I grew up around gardeners. My grandfathers both were avid gardeners, as were all my uncles. When I'd go visit them, every visit would start with a walk through their gardens and around their yards. I never knew most people visited inside until I was in my teens. When I first started going out with other people, I was stunned to see them ignore the yard and go right into the house. I used to wonder what was wrong with their yards and gardens that they were trying to hide.

My grandfather couldn't have a large garden in his little back yard at his home in Philadelphia, so he would come up to our house in the suburbs and plant a big garden in our back yard. Thus I became one of his right-hand granddaughters, and ultimately, the head gardener at my own home.

Whole Family
My grandmother was an avid gardener. I remember how beautiful her yard was and how much she enjoyed sharing her newest additions to her garden. My mother inherited the love of gardening, too, and has continued the tradition of sharing the joy of all things green. All 5 of her daughters are now also gardening gurus.

My grandmother was a gardener, my mother and all my aunts are gardeners, so it's in my DNA!

From the time I was a newborn (1950), my Granddaddy Sutherand had awesome flower gardens (always featuring the newest begonias), an asparagus patch, raspberry patch, and cherry tree. Grandma Hays kept vegetable gardens outlined by iris. Mother always had a small veggie garden, along with zinnias and marigolds. It never occurred to me that people didn't have gardens or wouldn't love gardening!

It's September – temperatures are dropping. The fall planting season is upon us, and Wayside Gardens has plenty of fresh flower bulbs stacked and ready to go. You can smell them walking through the coolers, a crisp, earthy smell. By the middle of this month, we will be shipping to most zones, and these living packages of beautiful botanical potential will be nestled into your garden, waiting for spring.

Flower bulbs really are great – a fun and simple project for novice gardeners, and a wide brush full of bright paint for those veteran garden artists looking to dump huge amounts of quick color into their landscape design.

There are a couple of dazzling new and unique flowers in our bulb line-up this year. Please check out the tulips 'Black Jewel' and 'Doll's Minuet' – I promise, they are like no tulips you've seen before. Another featured favorite this year is Colchicum 'Water Lily' – these large sprawling bloom actually look like floating waterlilies. Make sure to check out the rest of our fall flower bulbs.

Drought can be one of the most disappointing things to happen to a gardener. You work all year long, growing beautiful plants, and your yard looks exactly how you want it to look. All of it can be taken away in just a few dry weeks in August. There are a few things you can do to give your garden the best chance of pulling through.

1. When it starts to get dry cut back on the fertilizer or stop completely.
   Your plants do not need to be trying to grow right now, they need to be focusing on survival. Fertilizer stimulates growth and moisture intake.
2. Aerate your soil in the spring.
   This will allow roots to access moisture and nutrients more readily, giving your plants a big jump on the drier months to come.
3. Water longer but less frequently.
   Water deep into the soil, train your roots to grow down to where the soil holds moisture. Shallow root systems will dry out very quickly.
4. Water in the morning.
   Water your garden before 9 am, earlier if you can manage. Later in the day your moisture is more likely to evaporate before your plants have a chance to soak it up.

If you live in an area that is prone to dry weather take a look at Wayside Gardens’ diverse line of drought tolerant plants. You may also want to check your local nursery for native plants that are more adept in your climate.

The fluffy, full, bright blooms of many Hydrangea varieties serve well to fill out decorative floral arrangements. They are used classically by many florists and are keenly fit for this purpose. Hydrangeas are hardier than most cut-flower blooms, and the blooms last for a while after being snipped from the bush. They also produce many blooms, leaving you with a still very beautiful plant after you have taken your bouquet.

Tips For Growing Hydrangea Cut-Flowers

When planting hydrangeas specifically for cut-flower use, protect them from drying winds and hot sun that might stifle flower production. Plant on the eastern side of a building, allowing for afternoon shade. Make sure your plant has good drainage and nutrient rich soil – for the fullest, healthiest blooms amend your soil with rich compost and fertilizer.

Cut your blooms just as they reach there fullest size to ensure a long life in the vase. Cut at an angle to allow for optimum water intake. Arrange as you like, and enjoy your bright playful garden display.

People often search for drought tolerant plants, or plants that can tolerate soggy soil to meet specific conditions of their local climate. But there are a few plants that satisfy both needs, plants that can take a lot of moisture abuse and still shine in your garden. These special plants are mostly varieties that thrive in wet soil type, but, when established, can tolerate periods of drought.

These aren’t extreme exotic plants either; they are particularly hardy varieties of every day favorites, like hemorocallis, viburnum, and hibiscus. For more information and variety check out our full line of weather tough plants.