Find Your Ask the Expert: Hydrangea bloomed but flowers are green
i purchased my hydrangea last early summer when it was already in bloom and the flowers were pink and stayed pink all season
This year it is blooming a lot of flowers but they staying green
the only thing I did different this season is use HollyTone which is a fertilizer for acid loving plants. Donna
Donna,
First I need to know if you have Hydrangea macrophylla or Hydrangea quercifolia.
Hydrangea macrophylla produce blue or pink blooms and the color can be changed from season to season by changing the PH of the soil. To turn them blue you make the soil more acidic (often with Aluminum sulfate) and to turn them pink you make the soil more alkaline(often with hydrated lime). If this is the type you have the blooms maybe young and will soon turn to the appropriate color. Unless you add enough of the fertilizer to really change your soil PH you will probably get a lavender-pink color this year. Of course this all depends on when and how much fertilizer you applied.
If you have Hydrangea quercifolia commonly known as Oakleaf Hydrangea, the blooms start out a light green then change to white. This white color is held for a very long time and then turns to a dusty rose color. It would be too early for any Oakleaf hydrangea to show the pink coloring.
why is my lime light hydrangea blossoms staying green? First they started out light green and as they age their getting deeper green? Plant is suppose to be a lime light not the short version type. I notised all my lime light leaves are more a lime color, where this one has deep green leaves and the plant is more dence, full?
Hi Rhonda,
I’m really not sure why your hydrangea is staying green, since this variety’s color is not changed by the pH balance of the soil. It may seem disappointing if you aren’t getting the color show you are used to, but if your plant is healthy, I would not worry too much. They may begin to turn as the days go on, or may return next year in the bright green you’re looking for.