Hydrangea Pics: Pruning Hydrangeas Fine Gardening

Hydrangea (/ha?'dre?nd?i?/;common names hydrangea or hortensia) is a genus of 70-75 varieties of flowering plants local to southern and eastern Asia (China, Japan, Korea, the Himalayas, and Indonesia) and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, china notably, Japan, and Korea. Most are shrubs 1 to 3 meters extra tall, but some are small trees, as well as others lianas achieving up to 30 m (98 foot) by climbing up trees and shrubs. They could be either deciduous or evergreen, though the cultivated temperate kinds are all deciduous greatly.Having been introduced to the Azores, H. macrophylla is very common now, on Faial particularly, which is known as the "blue island" due to the vast number of hydrangeas present on the island.Life cycleHydrangea plants are created from early spring to late fall; they increase in flowerheads (corymbs or panicles) frequently at the ends of the stems.

Typically the flowerheads contain two types of bouquets: small non-showy bouquets in the center or interior of the flowerhead, and large, showy blooms with large colourful sepals (tepals). These showy plants are lengthened in a wedding ring often, or to the exterior of the tiny flowers. Vegetation in wild populations typically have few to none of the showy blossoms, while cultivated hydrangeas have been bred and picked to have significantly more of the larger type blooms.There are two flower arrangements in hydrangeas with Corymb style inflorescens, which includes the commonly grown "bigleaf hydrangea"--Hydrangea macrophylla. Mophead plants are large spherical flowerheads resembling pom-poms or, as the name indicates, the mind of a mop. On the other hand, lacecap flowers bear round, flat flowerheads with a center core of subdued, small flowers surrounded by outer rings of larger flowers having showy sepals or tepals.

The bouquets of some rhododendrons and viburnums can seem, at first glance, very much like those of some hydrangeas.Colors and ground acidityIn most varieties the bouquets are white, but in some kinds (notably H. macrophylla), can be blue, red, pink, light crimson, or dark crimson. In these species the colour is influenced by the presence of light weight aluminum ions which can be found or tangled up depending upon the land pH. For H. h and macrophylla. serrata cultivars, the flower color can be determined by the relative acidity of the soil: an acidic soil (pH below 7), will have available aluminum ions and produce flowers that are blue to purple typically, whereas an alkaline soil (pH above 7) will tie up aluminum ions and result in pink or red flowers.

This is the effect of a color change of the flower pigments in the occurrence of aluminium ions which can be adopted into hyperaccumulating vegetation.[6] Cutting down the pH of potting soils or mixes usually will not change the blossom color to blue, because these soils haven't any aluminum ions. The capability to blue or pink a hydrangea is also influenced by the cultivar. Some plants are selected because of their ability to be blued, while others are bred and selected to be red, pink or white. The flower color of most other Hydrangea species is not affected by aluminum and cannot be changed or shifted. Hydrangeas also have a nickname called 'Change Rose'.