Endless summer

photo, Diane Carnevale

Big fluffy hydrangea blossoms scream summertime! I have these Endless Summer hydrangeas in my garden, which blossom on both old wood and new wood. This essentially means that there is never a danger of those early spring frosts (that we are prone to here in Zone 5) which kill off the flower buds that were set the previous year. I add acid to the soil to make the blossoms blue, and my goal is to add even more acid so the flowers become a super saturated dark blue color—almost a purple. In another area of my garden I make my hydrangea blooms pink by adding lime to the soil (to make it more alkaline). I feel like a bit of a mad scientist with the power to change the color of my hydrangeas like this!