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Growing Hydrangeas

by Tricia

Hydrangeas are a favorite shrub of many gardeners because of their eye catching blooms.

The majority of Hydrangeas originate from Asia and North America.

Hydrangea in October Hydrangea Macrophyllia (Mophead and Lacecap) are common in the Atlantic border states. They have big leaves, and their blooms come in colors of blue, lavender, pink and white. Other common hydrangeas are Paniculata or panicle hydrangea (PeeGee and family), Hydrangea arborescens (Annabelle) and Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf). There’s also Hydrangea anomola-petiolaris (climbing hydrangea). You can find this last hydrangea growing on the northern side of buildings. Depending upon which variety you purchase, you could have blooms from Summer to Autumn.

If you’d like to have a garden that almost always has something in bloom, plant hydrangea near rhododendrons, azaleas and or forsythia and you’ll have blooms and color from spring through to fall. I also have my hydrangea growing near a lovely clump of peonies.

Some species of Hydrangea, the Macrophylia in particular, will bloom either pink or blue depending upon the PH of your soil. Acidic soil will produce blue or violet flowers, while a slightly alkaline to neutral soil will give you pink or white blossoms. Hydrangea blooms can range from 5 to 10 inches in diameter depending upon the species.

How to grow Hydrangeas:

  • Hydrangeas prefer light to medium shade, although large leafed hydrangeas seem to be able to handle full sun if they are given enough water.
  • Hydrangea’s need moist well draining soil.
  • Hydrangeas don’t require a lot of fertilizer. A good feeding in the spring is often sufficient. Compost or manure mixed into the soil near the plant will often be sufficient. You might also want to try Liquid Seaweed extract. It’s an organic fertilizer.

Pruning:

Big leaved Hydrangeas flower on old wood (previous seasons growth) so if you must prune only prune about a third of the weakest growth in early spring. Otherwise, prune immediately after your hydrangea has flowered.

You can visit this site to learn more about the proper care of your species of hydrangea. You might also want to visit the Hydrangea Forum at GardenWeb and talk with other hydrangea owners and gardeners.






Filed Under: Garden Tips, In The Garden, Organic, Perennials, Plant Profiles Tagged With: acidic_soil, Alkaline_soil, Annabelle, autumn, azalea, big_leaf, blooms, Blue, Blue_blossoms, climbing_hydrangea, compost, fertilize, forsythia, garden, grow, growing_hydrangea, Hydrangeas, hydrangea_anomola_petiolaris, hydrangea_arborescens, hydrangea_Macrophyllia, hydrangea_quercifolia, lacecap, lavender, manure, moist_soil, mophead, neutral_soil, Oakleaf_hydrangea, old_wood, Organic, panicle_hydrangea, Paniculata, peegee, peonies, pink, pink_blossoms, popular_hydrangea, prune, pruning, rhododendrons, seaweed, soil_ph, species, summer, white

Yves Piaget roses love cool weather

by Tricia

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Of all the roses I grow I think my Yves Piaget Romance rose is putting on the biggest fall show:

IMG_1853

It’s just full of blooms!

As you can see from this picture the roses get a little over blown fairly quickly, but they stay this way, with their petals all puffed out for days, especially in this cool weather.

Actually I think all the roses are enjoying the very cool weather we’ve been having here in Toronto. They are growing and some are developing buds, even though they really should be shutting down for winter by now.

If you grow roses, how are they doing right now? Are they enjoying the cool weather and flowering?

Filed Under: Blooming today, Garden Buzz, Green Thumb Sunday, Photography, rose Tagged With: blooming, blooms, cool, cool_weather, Green_Thumb_Sunday, GTS, loving_weather. garden, Romantica_rose, rose, roses, weather, yves_piaget

Why not grow your own hydroponic vegetables?

by Tricia

Have you ever thought of growing your vegetables hydroponically? If you live in a cold climate this might just be the best way to have fresh vegetables for your family year round.

Basic Hydroponic Garden

Image by J Wynia via Flickr

The process of hydroponic vegetable gardening is different than regular gardening. The vegetables are grown in a liquid nutrient solution. The plants usually have either their root system in an inert medium or are completely submerged in the fluid.

There are several different types of hydroponic gardening systems. There are drip systems, passive systems, the ebb and flow system, an NFT system and the aeroponic system.

If you are using the ebb and flow system, the roots of the plants are flooded periodically with nutrient solution and the plant is able to obtain its nutrients in this manner. This is achieved using a pump on a timer that will periodically pump nutrient solution into the plant containers and allowing the chambers to drain completely. The ebb and flow method typically uses a growing medium of some kind for the plant to root in.

The drip variation uses the pump and timer to pump solution directly onto the roots of the plants on a regular schedule. The excess solution then drips back into the reservoir where it is used again on the next timer interval. This method also typically uses a growing medium of some kind.

In a passive system, the lowest maintenance of all systems, the plants are grown with their roots dangling directly in the growing solution. There are no timers or pumps required for the technique, however, an air pump and air stone are often employed to ensure that the oxygen levels in the solution are sufficiently high.

Aeroponic is a slightly more complicated and advanced method of hydroponic vegetable gardening. The roots of the plants are completely exposed to the air and the pumps are used to mist nutrient solution onto the roots at frequent intervals. Insufficient misting will risk drying out the roots and killing the plant while excessive misting can cause molding. There is no growing medium used with aeroponics.

Finally, the Nutrient Film Technique, or NFT, systems make use of trays in which constantly flowing nutrient solution is pumped over the roots of the plants before draining back into the reservoir. This is another method in which a very regular frequency is required to keep the plants from drying out as there is no growing medium to help trap moisture.

When using a growing medium in hydroponic gardening you can use any number of chemically and nutritionally inert substances, such as coconut fibers, gravel, sand, rock wool or even air. The only additional requirement for a growing medium is that it allow the nutrient solution to drain freely from the container.

Once a method has been chosen and the system is setup, it is critical to ensure that the pH of the nutrient solution is kept consistently in the 5.5 to 6.5 ranges. Anything lower and you risk burning the plant with an acidic solution, and anything higher and you eventually risk burning the plants with a basic solution. In either case the plants will suffer and cease to flourish before eventually dying.

Finally, unless the system is sitting in a location where it can easily obtain natural sunlight, some manner of light will need to be provided. The options, from worst to best and also listed from cheapest to most expensive, are: incandescent, fluorescent, and high intensity discharge lamps.

Getting started with hydroponic vegetable gardening may seem a daunting task but it is fairly straightforward once the basics are learned.

Filed Under: Garden Tips, Health, Home and Lifestyle, vegetables Tagged With: aeroponic, air_flow, air_pump, drip_system, ebb, Ebb_and_flow, flooded, flow, food, garden, gardening, growing_medium, Hydroponic, hydroponic_systems, lamps, liquid, liquid_nutrients, misting, NFT_system, nutrient, passive_system, PH, plants, pump, roots, schedule, vegetables

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