Shades of Purple

Last year there was a huge hydrangea bush in the middle of our back yard. Every summer it bore massive blue blooms for us to enjoy. In the fall, I decided to dig it up and move it. What a chore! Upon digging it up, I realized there were many sections and I could divide it into more individual plants. More work and more digging than I had planned, but my helpful husband came to the rescue.

We ended up planting a row of what looked at the time to be dead stalks along the edge of our yard where the trees begin. But this spring, they put out beautiful broad leaves, and as summer approached you could see flower buds.


As the flowers opened, it became apparent that this was not the same blue color we had seen before.

There are varying shades of blue and purple! After some research, I found that the ph of the soil affects the color. A higher ph will make the flowers pink, a lower ph will make them blue, so somewhere in between is purple.

Interesting!

Here is a row, before the flowers opened . . .

. . . and after!

A partial bloom . . .

. . . and a full bloom!

Aren't flowers fascinating.