Hydrangea Flowers in Your Garden

To Plant Hydrangeas You will Need:

Hydrangea shrub in container
Compost
Garden fork
Shovel

Tip: Alter the color of blue and pink Hydrangeas by changing soil acidity. Add aluminum sulfate for blue blooms, and lime for pink.

Buying Tips for Hydrangeas:

Sun and Soil for Hydrangeas:

Special Advice for Hydrangeas:

Hydrangea hortensia blooms look like pom-poms, such the Nikko Blue. This variety offers cobalt blue flowers and light green foliage. This blue hydrangea blooms throughout summer, with its dry flower heads remaining attractive into early winter.

Enjoy a wealth of attractive, deep blue, globe-shaped flowerheads all summer with 'Nikko Blue'! This is the most reliable of the blue-flowered selections, with exceptionally large blooms that are consistently truer blue in a wide range of soils. Most striking color is achieved in acid earth. In neutral soil, both pink and blue flowers appear.

Hydrangeas are among the showiest of summer- and autumn-flowering woody plants. Shade tolerant, they grow well under trees or on the shady side of a building. Plant singly as focal points or mass together for stunning borders. Forms of H. macrophylla are also splendid for coastal plantings. Dry heads for beautiful arrangements.

'Nikko Blue' reaches a mature height of 6 feet tall in just 3 to 4 years. Zones 6 (with protection) -9.

Purchase at: Burgess Seed & Plant Co.

The Black Stemmed Hydrangea. Winner of many awards. The black-stemmed Hydrangea was developed in Japan and has already won numerous awards in Asia and Europe, so we are particularly pleased to be able to offer it to American gardeners this season. A mophead, it sets very large, attractive blooms of blue or pastel rose, often shading to white at the base of the petals. More importantly, however, the blooms arise on jet-black stems that really stand out in the vase!

Six feet high and wide, this moisture-loving shrub is a fine addition to the border or foundation, and makes a splendid hedge or specimen. It is quite floriferous all summer, its flowers drying to a papery consistency if left on the plant, and ideal for indoor arrangements. The stems show to best effect when cut, but 'Nigra' is such a heavy bloomer that you should have plenty left for garden beauty as well.

Plant this shrub in partial shade in all but the most northerly climates, and make sure it is in soil that never dries out. It does need good drainage, but appreciates plenty of water. Zones 6-9.

Purchase at: Burgess Seed & Plant Co.

The Most Colorful and Robust of the Cityline Series. Large rosy-pink flowerheads cover this mildew-resistant, compact plant. Cultivar name: 'Berlin Rabe.'

Another of the fine Cityline series of Bigleaf Hydrangeas from Germany, with a naturally compact habit and dense flowering, Cityline Berlin offers the strongest growth and largest flowerheads yet. Its rosy-pink blooms are held in large snowballs of brilliant color on plants less than 3 feet high, ideal for containers, the front of the shrub border, or other "tight spaces."

Cityline Berlin pink hydrangea is a magnificent shrub, mildew resistant and just 12 to 32 inches high and 3 to 4 feet wide. Like all the Citylines, it was bred for stronger stems to hold its large, heavy flowerheads upright. The clear pink flowers are exceptionally long-lasting as well, turning green with maturity.

These lovely pink hydrangea shrubs thrive in full sun in northern climates, afternoon shade farther south. They begin blooming in midsummer and continue until autumn, for a huge show of color in a very small space. Zones 5-9.

Purchase at: Burgess Seed & Plant Co.

Neverending Sunset! Lush crimson flowers of incredible size slowly deepen into purple tints reminiscent of the fading sun. Sunglasses are optional for this beauty! Abundantly produced over a 2- to 3-month growing season that begins in midsummer, its immense flowerheads (8 inches or more across) glow with dazzling, rich crimson that changes as summer progresses, deepening with age into luminous purple tints like a fading sunset.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Alpengluhen' (Glowing Embers) was developed almost 50 years ago, and is still considered the finest mophead. This German classic has often been difficult to find and, like all of our Hydrangeas, is among the showiest of summer- and autumn-flowering woody plants.

Compact Glowing Embers is quite vigorous, only 3 feet tall and wide, with large, bold green leaves little troubled by pest or disease. Easy to grow in moist, well-drained soil in full to part shade, it performs well on the coast. Zones 6-9.

Purchase at: Burgess Seed & Plant Co.

Big Snowy Blooms 12 Inches Across! America's favorite old-fashioned flowering shrub! Discovered in an Anna, Illinois, garden, 'Annabelle' is perhaps the most popular old-fashioned shrub grown in American gardens today. From early summer till fall, it produces enormous 12-inch snowballs of pure white, interestingly, the flower size increases as the season continues, so that the final flush is an extraordinary show!

Growing to 4 feet, 'Annabelle' is a splendid landscape plant that never gets out of bounds. It complements every other color in the garden, and is a marvelous companion to the slightly larger blue 'Nikko Blue' and the more compact, often hard to locate brilliant red 'Glowing Embers'. For a patriotic planting in full bloom on the 4th of July, consider using all 3 varieties!

'Annabelle' is shade-tolerant but also enjoys heat and humidity. Very easy to grow once established, it is a lovely source of fresh and dried arrangements as well as a useful border, hedge, foundation, or accent planting. Zones 4-9.

Purchase at: Burgess Seed & Plant Co.