Hydrangea macrophylla

The mop-head and lacecaps of today descend from plants native to a small area in eastern Japan. They are long lived plants, easy to grow, thriving in shade, woodland gardens and near the coast, whilst they also thrive in shady spots. Their flowers range through green, white, pink, blue, red and purple. The flowers give a fine display from June until November. The traditional Hortensias (H. macrophylla), have two basic types of flowerheads.

LACECAPS are usually flat with small flowers without petals in the centre and showy flowers with petals on the outside.

MOP-HEADS have a ball of flowers at the end of the stems of the current seasons growth. 

The Flower colour of Hydrangea macrophylla will vary with soil type and most will form round bushes between 1m and 3m tall. 

The flowers of the pink Hydrangea macrophylla varieties will usually go blue in acid soils, but stay pink in alkaline soils. Blue flowers will only remain blue if the soil is acid and there is sufficient Aluminium Sulphate in the compost or soil, if the soil is alkaline the flowers will be pink. White varieties do not change colour with the soil. 

If the variety has blue or pink in its name this does not mean that the flowers will come out that colour. 

The technical explanation - the blue colour of Hydrangea macrophylla flowers is determined by the presence of an Anthrocynin Delphinidin 3 - Monoglucoside. The blue colour is caused by the binding of Aluminium Sulphate with the Anthrocynin. This happens under acid soil conditions. 

*Please note the white and pale coloured flowered varieties will often burn if grown in full sun. 

Pruning Hydrangea macrophylla varieties. 

Remove dead heads in spring (late March/early April), and thin out weak and dead stems. You can thin the brown stems to get larger flowers. Do not prune in the autumn as the old flowers give some frost protection to young shoots in early spring. The brown flower heads also look great in winter when covered in frost. If you need to shorten the plant always cut above a bud. 


*Please note any hydrangeas with no add to cart button unless otherwise stated are currently out of stock or are only available in limited numbers. Please contact us to check availability 01622 833218 thank you.