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Today I want to talk about one of my favorite subjects… planting hydrangeas!! When it comes to hydrangeas, I consider myself to be somewhat of a hoarder… collector! 😉 Hydrangeas are my absolute favorite flowers and I just can’t seem to get enough of them!
I’m a big fan of The Endless Summer® Collection, they typically bloom longer than the average hydrangea, up to 10-12 weeks longer! That’s whole lot more blooming time! In fact, they are the world’s first and best selling assortment of re-blooming hydrangeas. So when I was given the opportunity to receive a free Hydrangea plant, in a brand new variety called BloomStruck™, and post about it… I couldn’t resist!!
Here you can some of the established Hydrangeas in my backyard. Including the gorgeous bright blue one in the foreground and a beautiful Lavender hued bush in the back!
The new one arrived like this… carefully wrapped up in brown paper. I couldn’t wait to tear it open to see the new variety! Even the pot is a pretty color!
It almost seems silly to write a post about how to plant and grow these pretties, because they are so easy to grow, there’s really not much to it… another reason why I love them! However I do have a few tips for you. The first one is, that picking a location is really important. I’ve found that my Hydrangeas love morning sun, but the afternoon sun is just too much for them. So you will want to find a spot in your yard that gets sun in the morning and partial shade in the afternoon. I like to grow mine close to my house, it makes it easier to find a spot with the right mix of sun and shade, and I feel like having them closer to the house gives them a little more protection during the harsh winter months. Once you’ve found your spot, dig a hole slightly larger than your plant size. 
We’ve planted hydrangeas in every home that we’ve lived in for over 20 years, and those homes had all types of soil. I’ve never had to amend my soil and they always grew great, but if your soil is particularly bad, you may want to amend it, before planting your hydrangea. Fertilizer is recommended as well. This is another step that I usually skip, we typically throw a little compost in the hole instead. Again, depending on your soil you may want to add the fertilizer, and perhaps it may give your plant a boost in growth, even if you have good soil. I’ll provide a link below for more info on planting. Make sure you add a nice layer of mulch on top and then water your new plant!
Here’s a close up of the beautiful new BloomStruck™ variety! Isn’t it gorgeous?!! I love the soft lilac shade of this plant! A new favorite for sure! Keep in mind that depending on the pH level of your soil, the colors will change over time, although you can correct that if you want to. In our last house all of my hydrangeas changed over to pink tones, at our current home they go towards vibrant blues. Endless Summer® actually has a product that you can add to your soil to get more control over the colors. You can use Color Me Pink™ or Color Me Blue™ to get the color that you want! Once planted there’s not much else to do but enjoy them! I do give them a good soak during the hottest summer months, especially if it hasn’t rained in awhile. I don’t prune mine either. All summer long you will have beautiful flowers brightening up your yard! You can cut some blooms and enjoy in arrangements. And in the fall, you can harvest the blooms to dry for Wreaths, or to display in Baskets etc. I usually harvest mine right before the first frost. After the frost hits it’s too late, so keep an eye on the weather if you want a good crop to enjoy all winter! FYI, dried hydrangreas look great tucked into Christmas trees too! For more info about these gorgeous plants check out The Endless Summer® Collection site HERE. Be sure and check out their “Care and Growing” section for more lots more tips and info!
Be sure to visit the Endless Summer brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!
gina says
I like the white hydrangeas as there is an old fashioned quality to them and whether up close or far away they are showy and beautiful! They also dry well.
Nancy Bivins says
I love the blue as my favorite. I think these are the prettiest flowers.
Laura G says
The blue are my favorite, but of course I live in an area with alkaline soil, so we get pink, and that’s pretty too!
Judi Johnson says
I like pink and purple colors. They pick my mood up when I am around pretty colors. I do like Hydrangeas. They are a soothing flower.
Ange Mills says
I have a lime light hydrangea tree, the lime light can take more sun and I also have several white hydrangea bushes., which I really love.
Becky says
My favorite hydrangea color is the purple/blue combination! 😀 Thank you for the giveaway offer! 😀
Grandmom says
Approx 20 years ago, we inherited blue hydrangeas…huge bushes; but this past unusual winter may have killed them. Daily, I look to see any sign of life; just a few lower leaves or hint of a small bloom. Hydrangeas are blooming around us but no sign of life in ours…it makes me very sad. We would love to start a fledgling hydrangea in the front of our home. Blues seem the most dominant around here, but we would love to start PURPLE!
Vivian Miller says
My favorite is the Limelight hydrangea. Thank you for the post and chance at your giveaway! Vivian
Linda Houston says
My grandmother had hydrangeas in Ohio. They were so beautiful. As a child, it seemed to me that they were in bloom all the time. Her’s were a purple blue and they wrapped around her whole front porch. She had a large old house with three stories as I recall, but I’ll always remember those flowers. Blue would be the color.
Beverly Detlor says
I love hydrangeas, and truly love the blue/pink variety. I have hydrangeas planted in my front yard, and they are now sprouting new growth from their old branches, In the fall, I will pick some to dry, and use hair spray to prolong the flowers.
Thank you for this opportunity to win one of God’s beautiful creations.
cynthia fontayne says
Hydrangeas are my all-time favorite since I was a child. White it my favorite but I will take them in any color, any time. When I was looking at the historic house in which I now live, once I saw the three hydrangeas bushes (one a pannicle, two mopheads) in the backyard, I took it as a sign that I was meant to buy the place. Just last week, Mom and I planted three new Blushing Brides.
Elaine Paullus says
I love purple hydrangeas and have several. Would love to try one of the endless blooms, though.
Dana Desmond says
I like the blue, but I think pink is my favorite because you don’t see it very often. I thought hydrangeas color was dependent on the acidity of the soil. If that’s correct, isn’t there really only one color of hydrangea?
MB Ray says
I love the blues, deep pinks, actually any of them are just lovely!!
Laurie Grotte says
It wasn’t until we owned our own home that I got interested in flowers and landscaping. I don’t have any hydrangeas yet but would love to start this year! I love the blue hydrangeas that I have seen. I don’t think I have ever seen pink. I think pink would be my favorite color.