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Blue hydrangea is a very beautiful ornamental plant with flowers of blue hues. It is not difficult to grow a shrub in your garden plot, but you need to know its features and rules of care.
Description of blue hydrangea
A plant from the Hortensia family is a large shrub, reaching from 1 to 2 m in height. The shoots of the shrub are covered with large bright green heart-shaped leaves; it blooms from early June until autumn with large hemispheres up to 25 cm in diameter.
The blue color of hydrangea flowers is due to the high level of soil acidity.
Blue hydrangea is not a separate plant species. The color of the flowers depends on the characteristics of the soil, for example, on neutral ground, the shrub gives white or beige flowers, on alkaline soil it brings pink and red inflorescences. A bluish color is given to shrub flowers by soil oxidation – the trunk and shoots of the plant accumulate substances due to which the flowers become blue or blue.
Varieties of blue hydrangea with photos and names
Since not all hydrangeas are capable of producing blue flowers in acidic soils, it is customary to isolate individual varieties that change color most easily and most readily. Several species are popular with gardeners.
Blau Mays
Blue hydrangea can reach 1,5 m in height, and spherical inflorescences grow up to 25 cm in diameter. The plant changes the shade of its flowers depending on the soil – from sky blue to purple. Bushes grow quickly, so with the help of hydrangeas you can transform a garden plot in a few seasons.
?Blau Mays – fast growing blue variety
Mini Penny
The light-loving plant has good disease resistance and therefore is very popular. The shrub reaches a height of only about 0,5-1 m, its leaves are green, and the spherical inflorescences are blue in acidic or pink in alkaline soil. The shrub blooms from July to September, due to its compact size it is actively used in group plantings.
Mini Penny – compact shrub with ball blue inflorescences
Freedom
A low shrub up to 1,2 m in height prefers to grow on moist soils in shady places. Hydrangea has dark green, jagged leaves along the edge, brings inflorescences up to 15 cm in diameter. At the beginning of flowering, the color of the plant is white-pinkish, but on acidic soil it gradually becomes blue. At the same time, some flowers can remain pink, which gives the shrub an even more interesting look.
Freedom – tall variety with dark green foliage and blue inflorescences
Popcorn Blue
Popcorn Hydrangea produces large, popcorn-shaped buds that are bright blue or purple. In height, the shrub grows up to 1 m, the budding period lasts from July to September. Popcorn Blue prefers to grow in lighted areas, tolerates winter frosts well even without shelter.
Popcorn Blue – a blue variety with flowers of an unusual shape
Ramars
This variety of plant can produce blue-white or blue flowers, or purple and purple buds, depending on the soil. The height of the bush usually does not exceed 0,8 m, Ramars prefers to grow in the shade and on well-moistened soils.
Ramars – a variety with blue or purple flowering
Blue hydrangea in landscape design
Hydrangea is one of the most popular garden plants due to its decorative properties. With the help of shrubs, lawns are decorated, group and single compositions are created, a plant is planted as a hedge.
It can be planted near the gate to the site, next to the gazebo in the garden or near the entrance to the house. The shrub goes well with perennial ornamental grasses. If you make it the center of an artistic composition, then such a flower bed is guaranteed to attract views.
With the help of plants form flower beds, hedges and artistic plantings
Frost resistance of blue hydrangea
Large-leaved blue hydrangea tolerates winter cold well. Most varieties calmly perceive temperatures up to -30 ° C, the decorative effect of shrubs does not suffer from this. True, with late frosts in spring, flowering may be disrupted if part of the plant buds freezes.
You can grow blue hydrangea even in the Urals and Siberia, but you need to choose the most cold-resistant varieties. Increased resistance to cold is distinguished, for example, by the varieties Freedom and Ramars.
The plant tolerates winter cold well, unlike sharp autumn frosts.
Planting and caring for blue hydrangea
The blue hydrangea has low care requirements, a hardy plant can be successfully grown both in the middle lane and in more severe regions. But some of the nuances that are responsible for the decorativeness of the plant, the gardener needs to know.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
It is recommended to plant a blue hydrangea in the spring, after the snow cover has melted and positive temperatures have been established. Usually the shrub prefers well-lit places with light shading, and in dense shade, and in the sun, he feels uncomfortable. The optimal location for it is a site near a wall or a high fence, since the buildings can shade and at the same time protect from the wind
When preparing the site, it is important to acidify the soil qualitatively or lower the pH level to 6.
When growing blue hydrangea, special attention must be paid to the composition of the soil. From this moment directly depends on the shade of colors. In general, hydrangea prefers nutrient soil, consisting of fertile forest land, humus, peat and sand. However, the level of soil acidity is of great importance, it should be from 5,5 to 6 pH.
If the soil is not acidic enough, aluminum sulfate should be added to it. If the soil is too acidic, you can dilute it with dolomite flour, which will help achieve the optimal pH.
How to plant blue hydrangea
Planting a blue garden hydrangea is carried out in almost the same way as planting a regular large-leaved hydrangea bush:
- A few days before planting, the plants dig a hole in the selected area, about 60 cm deep and 50 cm wide.
- Prepared soil, consisting of forest land, peat and compost, is poured into it up to half, sand is also added to the mixture, it will provide drainage and increase the friability of the soil.
- Complex fertilizers are applied to the hole, which will contribute to the rapid development of the bush, if necessary, aluminum sulfate or dolomite flour is also added to acidify or alkalize the soil, respectively.
The plant needs frequent watering.
After that, the blue hydrangea seedling is lowered into the pit and the root system is straightened, and then the hole is covered with earth to the end. The root neck of the plant should not be buried, otherwise the shrub will grow poorly. The earth is lightly tamped so that it does not sag, and 2-3 buckets of water are poured under the bush. After that, the trunk circle is mulched with peat or wood chips to preserve moisture.
Watering and top dressing
Blue hydrangea grows quickly and loves moisture very much. Therefore, you need to water the shrub twice or thrice a week if the weather is dry, and once a week if the summer is rainy. 3 buckets of water are poured under the bush, while the liquid should be warm, since cold water negatively affects the health of the blue hydrangea.
It is necessary to feed the shrub three times during the growing season:
- The first top dressing is carried out in May, with the next watering, granules of urea, superphosphate and potassium sulfide are dissolved in water.
- During the hydrangea budding period, it is fed with superphosphate and potassium sulfur, also along with watering, so that the nutrients are quickly absorbed by the plant.
- At the end of summer, the bush is fertilized with organic matter, for example, compost or rotted manure.
It is not recommended to feed the plant with ash, it lowers the acidity of the soil
Trimming
Without regular shearing, blue hydrangea bushes can grow very quickly and lose their decorative effect. In addition, with an excess of green mass, flowering will worsen, the plant will not have enough strength to form blue inflorescences.
You need to cut the plant in the spring, and the procedure looks like this:
- all old shoots that have lost their decorative effect are removed from the shrub;
- cut off young shoots that violate the harmony of the bush;
- shorten annual branches, but do not cut them entirely, so as not to damage flowering;
- cut off the top of the shrub and remove the remnants of dried flowers.
Timely pruning helps to protect the blue hydrangea from pests and diseases and increases its immunity. In addition, after shearing, the plant starts active growth and forms young shoots involved in flowering.
How to cover blue hydrangea for the winter
Varieties of blue hydrangea are predominantly large-leaved and tolerate winter cold well, but react poorly to the first autumn frosts. Therefore, it is necessary to cover the blue hydrangea, especially the young one, in advance, while the temperature is still at 6-8 ° C.
For the winter, you can build a frame shelter for the plant
Before wintering, the remaining foliage is removed from the hydrangea bush, leaving only the upper leaves located next to the buds to protect the buds from frost. After that, the trunk circle is carefully mulched with a dense layer of needles, peat or compost, and the shrub itself is covered with agrofiber and covered with spruce branches.
An interesting option is the construction of a special frame around the plant bush for the winter. In this case, the hydrangea is covered with a warming material, then a high frame is installed around it, for example, a wooden box or a metal mesh. Fallen dry leaves fall asleep inside the frame, and the blue hydrangea is reliably protected from the cold.
How to propagate blue hydrangea
There are several ways to increase the population of blue hydrangea in the garden:
- cuttings – young side shoots are cut at the beginning of summer, rooted in water or in a sand-peat mixture, grown in the house during the season, and transplanted into the ground the next year;
- bush division – an adult hydrangea over 4 years old is carefully dug out of the ground and its rhizome is divided into parts with a sharp shovel, after which the divisions are planted in prepared areas;
- layers – in late spring or early summer, you need to bend a strong lower shoot of a shrub to the ground, slightly bury it in the ground in the middle part and fix it, and separate it from the mother bush the next year.
The shrub reproduces well by dividing the rhizome, cuttings and layering.
Seed propagation of shrubs is rarely practiced, since it is much more difficult to grow hydrangea from seeds than vegetatively. But if you want to carry out seed propagation, then planting material must be purchased at the store, seeds from garden bushes do not allow you to get a plant with varietal characteristics.
Diseases and pests
The resistance to diseases of the plant is average. With improper care, blue hydrangea often suffers from fungal diseases and insects. Among the diseases, shrubs are especially often affected:
- Gray rot. With this disease, young shoots become covered with brown spots, the roots begin to rot, flowering stops, and the hydrangea gradually dies.
Gray rot affects the roots first, and then the leaves begin to wither
- Powdery mildew. The fungus can be recognized by yellow-green or brown spots on the leaves and a grayish coating on the underside of the leaf.
Powdery mildew is easily recognizable by its white coating.
- Chlorosis. The disease develops due to a lack of iron in the soil, because of it the leaves of the shrub become light green, and then turn yellow, growth slows down and flowering stops.
With chlorosis, the leaves of the plant turn yellow and lose strength.
The fight against ailments is carried out with the drugs Fundazol, Skor and Topaz. To save the affected shrub, you need to remove all damaged shoots and inflorescences, spray, and then pay special attention to proper care.
Of the pests for blue hydrangea are dangerous:
- aphid – a microscopic pest reproduces very quickly and feeds on the foliage of the plant;
Aphids are one of the most dangerous pests for hydrangeas in the garden.
- spider mite – small insects eat hydrangea leaves and tighten the plant with a thin cobweb;
The thin web left by the tick further inhibits photosynthesis and shrub growth.
- may beetles – beautiful insects can eat hydrangea leaves, and their larvae eat shrub roots;
Despite the beautiful coloring, the cockchafer is a garden pest.
- nematode worms – it is very difficult to notice the worms, and they cause damage to both the roots and the green parts of the bush.
Nematodes infect the roots and stems of blue hydrangea and are very difficult to treat.
If the leaves of the plant, under the influence of pests, began to curl and turn yellow, holes or a light cobweb appeared on them, the shrub began to develop worse, it is necessary to spray with copper sulphate and Bordeaux mixture. A good effect is also brought by Fitoverm, Iskra and others, with a slight lesion, the hydrangea can be sprayed with the usual infusion of onion peel.
Conclusion
The blue hydrangea is a beautiful shrub with many varieties. To achieve blue or pale blue flowering, the gardener needs to choose the right varieties of hydrangea and monitor the acidity of the soil, then growing an unusual shrub will not be difficult.
