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Hydrangeas: A trend in the decor world
Hydrangeas are making a big comeback in the floral world. To commemorate this rise of popularity, That’s why we share with you a small guide on this flower so shoppers can order a bunch this holiday season.
Moody Hues
Hydrangeas shift colour over the course of their blooming season, often starting out green then changing to pink and back again. This characteristic makes them sought after for flower delivery in Melbourne. The change actually has to do with the presence of aluminium in the soil as much as the pH. Acidic soil will likely produce flowers that range between shades of blue and purple while an alkaline soil will give petals that are soft pink or red.
Types of Hydrangeas
Mophead hydrangeas have hefty, rounded bunches of flowers growing from a large stem base. This variety comes in a range of colours such as purple, blue and pink and is most commonly seen in bouquets like the Amazing Graze Flowers Truth or Dare Bouquet – one of the boutique florist’s most popular choices for flower delivery in Melbourne.
The lacecap hydrangea features a ring of showy blossoms encircling a bunch of small coloured buds. This produces a unique-looking flower great for garden cultivation.
Panicle hydrangeas grow on an elongated stem, forming a conical creation. This witches-hat shape offers a different look for bouquets, though they’re not often cultivated for arrangements. They can be grown into trees – the only type of hydrangea to do so.
Keeping Flowers Fresh
For cut flowers, such as Amazing Graze Flowers’ Mother’s Gentleness Bouquet, make sure to refresh the vase with room-temperature water daily. If the petals seem to be wilting, cut the stems and immerse them briefly in boiling water before placing them back in their vase.
Want to grow a Hydrangea Plant? Make sure it gets plenty of water and keep an eye on the soil to ensure it stays moist. Unlike other plants, it prefers the shade but will tolerate some morning sunlight.
Hydrangea Flower Delivery worldwide
Investing in a stunning hydrangea bouquet will offer a bonus after summer has gone, as these flowers can easily be dried, giving arrangements a second life.
When To Cut Back Hydrangeas & Crepe Myrtles
Two valuable floriferous shrubs or small trees that can give gardeners anxiety about pruning procedures are hydrangea (Hydrangea spp.) and crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), also called crape myrtle. Pruning done improperly or at the wrong time of year robs you of blooms the next season and can even affect the long-term health of the plant. For hydrangeas, you have to know what kind of hydrangea you have and when it blooms. For crepe myrtle, you need to understand how the plant grows and how to enhance its natural shape to encourage greater summer bloom.
Hydrangea Types
Hydrangeas produce showy clusters of large white, pink or blue flowers that provide a colorful display against large green leaves. Depending on the type, they form large shrubs to small trees. Native to Asia and North America, they bloom in spring and summer and go dormant for the winter. The blooms are used as cut flowers and in dried arrangements. For pruning purposes, there are three types of hydrangeas. First are the species that bloom on the current season’s growth, or the new growth. Then there are those that bloom on last season’s growth, or the old growth, and the third type, the endless bloomers, grows on both old and new growth.
Pruning Hydrangeas
New-wood bloomers such as summer-blooming “PeeGee” (Hydrangea paniculata “Grandiflora”) and spring-blooming “Annabelle” (Hydrangea arborescens) can be pruned in late winter. For really large blooms on “PeeGee,” cut stems back to within 12 inches of the ground. For more abundant but smaller blooms, cut stems back to 18 or 24 inches to provide a sturdy framework for the new flowers. Old-wood bloomers include bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) and oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). Cut them back in early summer just after the current year’s flowers fade. They will branch out sooner with the wood that will bear the next season’s flowers. Prune endless bloomers such as cultivars of bigleaf hydrangea “Endless Summer” and “Forever and Ever” (Hydrangea macrophylla cultivars) in the fall if cutting back is needed to control plant height or shape the bush. “PeeGee” grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8, “Annabelle” in zones 3 through 9, bigleaf hydrangea in zones 6 through 9 and oakleaf hydrangea in zones 5 through 9.
Crepe Myrtle Characteristics
This small deciduous tree is native to China and Korea and can reach 25 feet tall in USDA zones 7 through 9. It is usually multitrunked but can be trained as a standard tree. Cultivars offer dwarf, semi-dwarf and small and large tree varieties. In summer the tree produces masses of flowers in colors of white, pink, red, rose, lavender and purple. Fall foliage can be yellow, red, orange, purple-red or maroon. Smooth, mature bark flakes off in patches, revealing varying shades of brown and gray. Crepe myrtle needs full sun and well-drained soil.
Crepe Myrtle Pruning
Shape crepe myrtle as it grows to have three to seven main trunks. If you want to be able to walk under the tree, keep trunks straight up to 6 to 8 feet off the ground, and then allow branching. Prune crepe myrtle in the late winter while the tree is still dormant so you have better visibility of branching structure. This also won’t affect the next season’s bloom, which will appear on the new growth. Prune branches back to the main trunk or branch without leaving a stub. Remove branches that cross or rub against each other or that are growing too close together to open up the canopy. Remove any branches smaller than a pencil in diameter so larger branches can afford to make more growth and numerous flowers.
References
Writer Bio
Cathryn Chaney has worked as a gardening writer since 2002. Her horticultural experience working in the nursery industry informs her garden articles, especially those dealing with arid landscaping and drought-tolerant gardening. Chaney also writes poetry, which has appears in “Woman’s World” magazine and elsewhere. Chaney graduated from the University of Arizona in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
The Duration Of Hydrangeas
The large and colorful blooms of a hydrangea (Hydrangea spp.) grace the gardens of homes in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 5 through 9. If properly maintained, these shrubs can grow between 4 and 12 feet tall, and live for decades, sharing their frothy blooms most of the summer.
Lifespan
Hydrangeas are long-lived shrubs, sometimes living for up to 50 years if properly cared for. They enjoy morning sun but afternoon shade, and they need frequent watering during the growing season. Prune them in the fall after the blooms fade so they can grow on strong stems the following summer. Pruning the plants while they’re blooming can damage them, causing the hydrangeas to go a year without blooms while the plants recover.
Common Hydrangea
Bigleaf hydrangeas also are called the common hydrangeas, and they bloom in several colors, including blue, pink and purple. These hydrangeas bloom earlier than some other varieties, often with blooms forming in May. The plants typically continue to develop blooms into July. Bigleaf hydrangeas are known to change bloom colors based on the soil properties; a plant that blooms pink one year can bloom blue the next. Adding aluminum sulfate to the soil encourages blue flowers, while adding hydrated lime brings pink blooms, which appear in alkaline soils. Cultivars include “Ayesha,” “Nikko Blue” and “Preziosa.”
Long Bloomers
The smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) blooms longer than other hydrangeas, often showing color from early June through September. Cultivars include the white “Anabelle” and pink “Invincibelle Spirit.” Unlike other hydrangeas that bloom best on old wood, smooth hydrangeas usually bloom on the current year’s wood, which means you should prune them severely. Cut them down to within 6 to 12 inches of ground level.
Late Bloomers
Panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) get a later start in their blooming season, preferring to bloom in the heat of summer rather than the cool weather in spring. Often not getting started until July, panicle hydrangeas bloom into September. Their flowers start out as white and begin to change to a rusty pink as fall draws near.
Non-Blooming Years
Hydrangeas can develop large blooms in their first year, but if you move the plants or transplant one from a pot to the ground, the hydrangeas might skip blooming for a year or even two. This doesn’t mean they are finished blooming for life. Continue watering regularly, and fertilizing the plants in the spring, summer and fall with a balanced fertilizer, and blooms should start developing once their roots get over the shock of transplantation.
References
Writer Bio
Based outside Atlanta, Ga., Shala Munroe has been writing and copy editing since 1995. Beginning her career at newspapers such as the “Marietta Daily Journal” and the “Atlanta Business Chronicle,” she most recently worked in communications and management for several nonprofit organizations before purchasing a flower shop in 2006. She earned a BA in communications from Jacksonville State University.
