Why are my blue hydrangeas pink this year?

For the past few years at easter time we get a blue florist hydrangea to brighten up the house as winter draws to an end. After a few weeks the flowers die off and we store the plant in the cold room in the basement until it warms up enough outside to allow us to plant the hydrangea.

These hydrangeas will bloom steadily from year to year and even when the flowers dry they add interest to the garden. One fascinating aspect  about the hydrangea plant is that the flowers can change color from year to year. They plant is very sensitive to it’s environment, especially the pH of the soil. Actually it is based on the amount of aluminum in the soil. The more aluminum, the more blue the flower will be. The less aluminum, the more pink the flower will be. Sometimes the plant can’t make up it’s mind and you get pink and bluish flowers on the same plant.

To get hydrangea to be pink increase the pH of the soil (more alkaline) so the plant will not take up aluminum from the soil. This can be done by adding dolomitic lime a few times a year or by using fertilizer with high levels of phosphorus.

To get the hydrangea to be blue then decrease the pH of the soil (more acidic) by adding aluminum sulfate to the soil or by adding organic material that tends to be more acidic such as pine needles or even coffee grounds.

So the reason our blue hydrangeas where pink this year is that our soil became “sweeter” and less acidic. I had assumed that with the hydrangeas so close to our woodland that the large evergreen trees would make the soil more acidic and that I wouldn’t have to add a lot of organic material this year. I guess this was a bad assumption because we have a lot of pink hydrangeas.

Every garden needs a water feature

A few years ago we wanted to add a water feature in our garden in order to get a bit of the sound of running water in the backyard. We didn’t want to spend a lot of money on it or have the headache of maintaining a big pond. Another thing we had to consider is that in our neighborhood raccoons are also a big problem with water features, so we needed something that would not turn into a raccoon Jacuzzi!  We tried various things through the years, but nothing really worked that well and the raccoons always seemed to get into them. We had seen some beautiful fountains at the up scale garden centers, but didn’t really want to pay over a thousand dollars. One day we were at the Home Depot and we noticed that there were some relatively cheap ($150 to $250) fountains that didn’t look too bad. We bought one of these fountains and a few interlocking brick wall stones to build a base for it and within a couple hours had it installed and were enjoying the sound of running water in the garden. We have had the fountain for a few years now, and it has more than paid for itself. Once in a while the robins also have a bath in it which is quite a scene.

The base for the fountain is a cap paver that you can get at Home Depot. We used this because of the semi circular shape of the fountain base.

You also will need a power source for the pump. We put our fountain against our garage/garden shed which has electricity.

To really prevent raccoons from enjoying our fountain I cut a piece of plywood in the shape of the fountain base, and every night I cover the fountain. You don’t really have to do this if you don’t fully fill the fountain as the raccoons have a hard time getting at the water unless it is right up to the top.

If you are finding the sound of running water too loud you can soften the sound by putting a few river stones in the catch basin.

Just make sure that every few days you put water in the fountain as the level will go down as the water evaporates.

In the winter we empty the fountain and store it.

Why are there so many ants on my Peony?

A few people have asked us about ants on their Peony's and if they should spray them. DO NOT SPRAY THEM IF YOU WANT FLOWERS!!! The ants actually help the peony flowers to open and have a symbiotic relationship with the peony. The flower buds on the peony have a sticky honey on them that attracts the ants. The ants will eventually remove the honey and this allows the beautiful flower to open. The double peony flowers especially need the ants to remove the honey to open. I have had friends who sprayed their peony and wondered why it didn’t flower – so if you want your peony to flower just let the ants to their job and you will get beautiful peony blooms.

This is a picture of an heirloom peony in our yard that is white with a little bit of reddish pink center and a rose like fragrance. This was one of the few plants that we found in our yard when we moved in many years ago and it’s still doing well after probably 60 years. The ants love it….