Saturday, August 8, 2009

Kyushu, a Beautiful Hydrangea

I am absolutely smitten by this beautiful Kyushu Hydrangea. The open panicles are so elegant and lovely, with a nice elongated shape and a mix of sterile and fertile florets. Some say the panicles develop a slight pink hue in the fall, I've read elsewhere that they fade to a pale yellow. Perhaps like other Hydrangeas it is dependant on soil pH? Due to my soil being quite alkaline I did mix in a healthy amount of peat moss. Since this is my first season with Kyushu, it remains to be seen what the fall colour is like.





4 comments:

  1. Your Kyushu has a nice white colour, and a very lacey look. I love watching to see how a plant performs and changes when it's new in my garden.

    I think it's just the H. macrophylla types that react to pH with the changing bloom colour. It would be fun if you could change the bloom colour of more plants by experimenting with the soil.

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  2. Hi NS :), It certainly would be fun to change colour of plants more or less at will. I'm interested to see what happens with this hydrangea, but a tinge of pink would just be a nice bonus, since it's beautiful the way it is.

    As to H macrophylla, I'm a big fan of Endless Summer, in it's blue form but not the pink. I was concerned that it would be too much work to keep it blue given our soil alkalinity.

    I'm from Eastern Canada, where fall colours are a much wider palette than out West, even when the same trees are grown. I've always suspected that it had to do with soil composition & environmental conditions.

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  3. Have you ever seen the Kyushu in a tree form? Our landscaper planted a small tree, about 3 feet tall, very delicate, that gets the same blooms. He called it a Kyushu Hydrangea.

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  4. Thanks for your message, I have seen the treeform, it is very beautiful. I believe they may be shrubs, trained to a tree.

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