by Leslie Renjilian
What's In Bloom?
Hydrangeas!
The photo above by Jeanne Wiebenga is of a Endless Summer Blushing Bride Hydrangea blooming in the Bride's Garden, the small triangular park between the Hall of Christ, the Hall of Philosophy and the Chapel of the Good Shepherd.
Named the Bride’s Garden because so many brides had their pictures taken here, this beloved garden has had seasons of brilliance and seasons of neglect but was brought back to life during 2015 and 2016 off-seasons and has looked better and better in the years since. The blue and white color scheme evokes the nuptial superstition: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.
In a fit of garden-nerd fun, Gardens & Landscape Supervisor Betsy Burgeson selected plants with cultivar names such as Blushing Bride, Hearts of Gold, and Bridal Wreath and painted the urn blue. In addition to the fun she had choosing cultivars with love names, Betsy also selected plants that pick up the bridal theme in more subtle ways, such as in the way the wispy petals of the fringe tree which resemble the lace of a bridal veil. Click here to see the complete tree and plant list as well as historical photos of the garden.
But back to hydrangeas! Scroll down for a photo primer of different kinds of hydrangeas in bloom. There are over 75 different varieties of hydrangeas, but we’ve showcased the ones most commonly found here in Chautauqua.
Many of us have hydrangeas in our yards here in Chautauqua or back home, and there seems to be some magic around when they look good and when they don't. Some of that is Mother Nature - this is simply a good year for hydrangeas because of the mild winter and plentiful rainfall last summer when the plants were setting buds. But some of the success is in your hands.
Here are Betsy's answers to your most FAQs:
When should I prune my hydrangeas?
Betsy: The simple answer is: Your pruning deadline is coming up fast. Do not prune in summer later than the beginning of August. The more complicated answer is that some hydrangeas (Smooth Hydrangea, Panicled Hydrangea, and the Endless Summer Series of Big Leaf Hydrangea) bloom on new growth while others (Oakleaf, Lacecap and Mophead Big Leaf, and Climbing Hydrangea) bloom on "old" wood, aka the prior year's growth. If you prune those near the end of the season, you clip off the flower buds for next year, so don't do that. Put on your readers and look closely - never cut off a bud. Those that bloom on new wood (the current season's growth) can be pruned in VERY late fall (after a hard frost) or very early spring ...but we're not likely to be in Chautauqua then.
My Annabelle hydrangeas are slumped. How do you get them to stand up straighter like yours?
Betsy: Well, many have supports hidden inside them. When they first leaf out in the spring, our crew installs ring supports which the hydrangeas grow through and hide. Others are supported by their garden companions, underplantings of shorter but sturdy stemmed perennials such as butterflyweed or purple coneflowers.
How do you get them to be more blue? Pink?
Betsy: Using nails or coffee grounds to change the acidity of the soil is a fun experiment and sometimes works. However, a more scientific method would be to test the acidity of your soil (using a test kit or by sending a sample to your county extension service) and then gradually adjust the pH by using lime (for pink) or a soil acidifier, such as pine needles or elemental sulfur (for blue). This won't be a one-and-done fix because your soil will revert to its natural state over time. So retest and retreat. Or sit back and accept whichever color your soil gives you....
Sometimes when I cut (or buy) hydrangeas stems to use indoors they last forever, but sometimes they wilt right away. What can I do?
Betsy: You can take a wilted blossom and turn it upside down in a big mixing bowl of water. Hydrangeas can absorb water through their petals. Sometimes it takes a day or two, but they will almost always plump back up and you can return them to a vase. It’s a good idea to trim the stem an inch or two at this time since the xylem will have sealed up in the air.
What’s the deal with Tree Hydrangeas? The ones along Lake Drive are so cute and the ones in the Chautauqua Cemetery are downright supernatural.
Betsy: So glad you asked! Please click here to be redirected to the BTG exploreCHQ app and read about Tree Hydrangeas (spoiler alert – they’re Panicle (or PeeGees) and really just big shrubs pruned into tree forms and the ones in the cemetery are very old).
A Hydrangea Photo Primer
1. Oak Leaf Hydrangeas These are native in the southeast United States, but do quite well here. There are beautiful ones planted against the wall of the Amp restrooms and more in front of the Post Office. They have beautiful fall color and the leaf shape is so delightfully oak-ish. The scientific name is Hydrangea quercifolia and they bloom on OLD wood.
2. Panicle Hydrangeas in front of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. There is also a long row along Cookman by Alumni Hall. Panicle Hydrangeas are the ones used to "make" tree hydrangeas. Also called PeeGees, the scientific name is Hydrangea paniculata and they bloom on NEW wood.
3 & 4: Endless Summer Hydrangeas - as the name suggests, these are repeat bloomers and are famous because they are the color-changers. White hydrangeas (like the Annabelle) cannot turn blue or pink no matter what your neighbor tells you to sprinkle on the soil. But these guys do change depending on soil acidity. Photo 3 is from the Bride's Garden (Blushing Bride) and photo 4 is from McKnight Hall (Nikko Blue). The front steps to the President's Cottage is lined with Endless Summer. Endless Summer is a cultivar of Big Leaf Hydrangea. Their scientific name is Hydrangea macrophylla and they bloom on OLD AND NEW WOOD!
5. When you don't know the cultivar of a hydrangea that looks like the one above, you sometimes just call it a "mophead" or "bigleaf." The classic beauty in this photo could be any (or none) of these common cultivars: Blue Deckle, Nikko Blue, Tokyo Delight, Pretty in Pink, Forever Pink, Pistachio, and Endless Summer. Although the names imply a color, in the end it all has to do with soil acidity, so even if you buy a plant in bloom, the color you see next year will depend on your soil. Note: don't get too excited by those variegated leaves under the flower in this photo - those are hostas. The mophead leaves are the plain (still pretty though!) leaves above the flower.
6. Lace Cap Hydrangeas - as the name implies, the flower is not a big mop head, but rather a ring of larger petals around a center section of short flowers that look like buds.
Both the Lacecap and the Mophead are Big Leaf Hydrangeas. The scientific name is Hydrangea macrophylla and they both bloom on OLD wood.
7. Perhaps the showiest hydrangeas are the Annabelles, with their big white swaying cumulus cloud flower heads. Also called smooth hydrangeas, the scientific name is Hydrangea arborescens. They bloom on new wood, so the best time to prune is very early spring.
8. In a surprise category all it's own, is the Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangeo petiolaris). This one is growing on both sides of the serpentine wall behind the Post Office and I've never seen a happier one anywhere. It's a delicate bloomer but a leafy wonder and very useful if you're trying to hide things like trash cans or HVAC.
Thanks to Jeanne Wiebenga for biking around in the rain to take hydrangea photos today! She took all the good ones and the rest are mine.
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