Hydrangea Macrophylla

"Endless Summer"
This Mophead hydrangea is in my back garden, the blooms are so big and beautiful this year, that I am going to dry the flowers for the very first time. What I knew about hydrangeas is, they love the morning sun, and lots and lots of water! I also knew they would change colors depending on the soil balance. This is my third year with this shrub you see in the picture, the previous years I had it in the shade, this year I moved it so my shrub would feel the morning sun with shade in the afternoon, and I watered it twice a day, which I did not do last year or the year before. This hardy plant proved to be in it's perfect spot for showing off it's beauty, don't you think?

What I did not know was the name and type, "Endless Summer" mophead hydrangea macrophylla, a deciduous shrub. Most mopheads set their blooms in August, September, and October, just like azaleas. A mophead hydrangea can bloom on old and new wood, which I did not know either, very interesting. For hydrangeas a good fertilizer would be the balance of NPK (10-40-10) nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. Using a soil acidifier will lower your soils PH for beautiful blue blooms. The flowers can be white, or range from blue to purple to pink depending on the soils PH. In more acidic soils the flowers will be blue where alkaline soils yield pinkish bloom, white flowered varieties do not change color regardless of soil PH. I am now interested in trying to grow a white hydrangea called the "Blushing Bride".