HYDRANGEA HORTENSIS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19529, 11 July 1925, Page 3

HYDRANGEA HORTENSIS.

This beautiful shrub, which attains a height of from 3ft to sft, is well worth cultivating, and its compact mass of blooms are very conspicuous among neighbouring Dowers. They are largely used for terraces and conservatories, but wherever they stand they are certain to bo admired. They are best propagated by cuttings, and these can either be taken direct from a parent plant during August or September, or they can bo purchased from any reliable nursery. To take the cuttings successfully, the cut should be made just beneath «, joint and be of ripe wood about 6in in length. Ihe bottom leaves may be removed and the cuttings inserted in Sin pots containing a compost of equal ports of leaf-mould and good loam with a fair sprinkling of sharp silver sand. Tho post may. be stood in a cold frame, as near to the glass as possible, and shaded from the hot sun until tho roots begin to form With this treatment, and a fair watering occasionally, it will not be very long before the cuttings secure a grip. During tho winter the frame must be made frost-proof, but when there is a normal temperature a good supply of air may bo given. The sin pots will be quite large enough for tho first year’s bloom, and as soon as this has disappeared tho plants may bo primed to their base and placed in the frame again for the winter. During March or April it will bo necessary to re-pot (he plants after their first bloom into pots just large enough to take the roots comfortably. The old soil is well shaken from tho roots, and a fresh compost may be prepared consisting of one part rotted cow manure, leafmould and sand, and two parts good loam. In June the plants can with advantage l>e transferred to Sin pots containing a similar compost and placed in their respective flowering quarters. H. hortensis is a halfhardy plant, and thrives well in the south of England out of doors, but in more northern counties it blooms very successfully in a cool house or conservatory.—J.B.C., in The Garden.