Hello, I just received a pink Hydrangea plant for valentine’s day. I wanted to plant it so it could grow bigger but where I live doesn’t have the best soil (the live in the acreage in Florida). I wanted to know if I could plant it in a pot? If so what size pot do you suggest? Also, what soil should I use for it? And my final question is do I have to trim it ? Please let me know. It’s a beautiful plant I don’t want to die. Thank you and have a great day. Danielle Adams

Danielle,

There are many types of hydrangea. Florists typically use Hydrangea macrophylla; a big-leaf type of hydrangea with blue, pink or white flowers. Valentine’s day is not the normal blooming time of hydrangeas; so for a while, I would treat it as a houseplant. In fact, when this type of hydrangea is young it is often grown as houseplant. If the potted hydrangea came wrapped with a bow and foil, remove the pot from the foil. The foil, ok for a little while, will not let it drain properly. I usually drop the pot into a slightly larger decorative pot until I find a permanent home for it. Keep the plant moist but not soggy and place in a room with a fair amount of light. If you want to plant it in a new pot select one that is 1 1/2 times larger than the existing one. Use a humus-rich potting soil (your local garden center will have this type of soil). When you re-pot make sure that the hydrangea is planted at the same level as it was in the original pot.

Hydrangeas prefer to be grown in moist but well-drained, humus rich soil in sun or part-shade. The hardiness zone for hydrangeas is zone 6-9. I believe Acreage Florida is hardiness zone 10-11 and your soil stays a bit on the soggy side. Neither of these conditions is good for a hydrangea. You could amend the soil, so that it drains better. Zone 10 is a problem because the temperature doesn’t get cold enough for hydrangeas.

Despite these issues, hydrangeas have survived in zone 5 and zone 10. These are exceptions and not the rule. You have a few options; pot it and keep it in the cool area of a sunroom; pot it and place it outside on a patio with some shade; plant it in a partly shady spot in the garden. With all of the options, use a soil or amend the soil so that it is humus rich and drains well. To keep the hydrangea pink you will need to keep the soil slightly alkaline (use a small amount of hydrated lime to achieve an alkaline soil). I would probably plant the hydrangea in a pot and place it on the patio.

Hydrangea macrophylla should be trimmed shortly after the blooms are spent. Normally hydrangea bloom mid to late summer, so trim no later than mid fall.