HYDRANGEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 65, 17 March 1934, Page 6 (Supplement)

HYDRANGEAS.

HARDY FLOWERING SHRUBS. Hydrangeas are dwarf, hardy compact flowering slirrubs. They are easily propagated and thrive in almost any garden soil or situation, but to grow them to perfection the soil must be well enriched with manure and the plants regularly and copiously watered during their growing and flowering season. Specialists have devoted attention to the raising of new varieties, chiefly of dwarf habit of growth, with a wide range of colours in various shades of pink, rose, crimson, reds, blues, also cream and pure white in very large trusses. The older strong growing varieties still retain their popularity. Thoy arc better adapted for planting 011 the outskirts of shrubberies, the sides of drives and where no special attention is necessary. They produce enormous trusses of blooms. The latest novelties of dwarf habit require greater attention to grow them successfully. Hydrangeas are especially adapted for growing in large pots or in tubs for lawn and other decoration. l'lants grown in Oin pots to produce a single stem with a large bloom on each are specially prized for bible decoration and for mixing with other flowering and foliage pot plants. The colour of the flowers is liable to change, the blue turns pink and the pink blue according to the constituents of the soil. To retain the blue true to colour it is necessary to have the soil in an acid condition with iron in sufficient quantity. Water with a weak solution of alum, loz to the gallon, and add sulphate of iron well mixed with the soil. The [links require lime, which should be added to the soil.