My Hydrangea Dilemma

I credit my paternal Polish grandmother for my life-long love of plants and gardening. She had a large vegetable and flower garden on a small lot in the city of Stamford Connecticut. She was probably the only person I know that was able to coax a gardenia to bloom indoors.

In particular I remember that she had a hydrangea with big puffy white flowers. Seventy years later I'm growing an Incrediball Hydrangea with foot wide puffy white flowers. my Grandmother would be proud.

I have a few other types of hydrangea, a climbing variety and Pinky-Winky (Paniculata).

However all is not perfect in my New Hampshire garden. Specifically I lack blue blossoms such as these that surround houses and businesses at Cape Cod.

It is not for lack of trying I planted one Nikko Blue and two Endless Summer Hydrangeas. These varieties are hardy in my zone and can be coaxed into blue blossoms with a dose of acidic aluminum sulfate. Even though I purchased them in blossom, it would be the last time they would flower.

In conclusion, ten years have past. the Nikko and Endless Summer have beautiful leaves, they look healthy and come back every year with another crop of leaves. I travel to the Cape to see blue flowers.