Beautiful Hydrangea

There’s a foot of snow on the ground.  Come on – how can we be thinking of our hydrangea blooms??  Well, I can’t think of much else.  Sitting here, staring at the fire, I know Spring will be coming around the corner soon . . . So I’m not going to hide indoors much more.  One of the things I love about gardening is the feeling of hope.  I still cross my fingers each year in hopes that my favorite plants will do what I want!  That feeling of hope is what’s getting me through this crazy snowy winter. 

Let me explain – I have been hoping for big, pink hydrangea blooms next year.  The acidity of the soil around Virginia gives us blue blooms naturally, so we have to change the ph of the soil to get the pink ones.  The soil has to be ammended to make it more alkaline.  And this is what I’m thinking as the 16th inch of snow is falling outside my window.  Staring at the fire, thinking of hydrangea blooms.  That takes me to my beauty shot of my little slice of hydrangea heaven.

Ashes, Ashes . . .

Nice, right.  What is that nasty stuff all over those dead canes, you say?  Remember the fire?  The pink blooms?  Those are the ashes from the fireplace, a great soil ammendment to raise the ph of the soil.  Now, this is not something you should do often, but I heaved a nice load of wood ashes around the site and, fingers crossed, they should slowly leach into the soil and start the pinking up my blooms. 

Here’s to Hope!  I’ll keep you posted as the blooms come out.

And, by the way, if you have a few extra ashes, go ahead and sprinkle them around your boxwood.  They like less acidic soil too.  But don’t get crazy.  A little bit each season is all you would want to do – remember I said sprinkle!

And one more note on the hydrangea.  I have the “Endless Summer” repeat blooming veriety, so I trim my canes back in the winter to about 10″ above the ground.  The newer varieties bloom on old and new wood so it’s safe to do this and know you’ll get blooms next summer.  If you’re not sure what variety you have, it’s better to be safe and leave the plants intact. 

Here’s to hoping!