Hydrangea lost colour anybody know why?

25Avalon Sat 08-Aug-20 17:26:20

I have a group of 5 hydrangeas that have been growing for over 15 years and our superb specimins - 2 mopheads and three pink lacecaps. One of the mopheads was pink, then a couple of years ago it went to a bluey mauve with some pink. Now it has lost all pigmentation and is either greeny white or completely washed out. Does anybody know why this should be please? I picked a bunch last week of the pink lacecaps with the colourless white mophead and attach a photo.

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JuliaM Sat 08-Aug-20 18:39:45

I have always fed my Hydrangeas with a few rusty iron nails pushed into the root base every winter, and im rewarded with the most wonderful deep rose pink colour every Summer. This was a tip that l read in Jeff Hamiltons book when we first moved into our house around 25years ago. I have never had any luck at growing the deep blue shades though, and neither have any of my neighbours, despite buying young Blue flowering plants from the local nursery.
My late Dad could never grow any good Hydrangeas in his garden, and they always looked very pale and has a poor show of heads on them, his soil was always very rich and well drained, where as mine is quite wet and clay based giving these rather thirsty plants plenty to drink all year round.

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Ellianne Sat 08-Aug-20 19:40:15

Mine has lost colour too. It is looking anaemic if there's such a thing for flowers.

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Auntieflo Sat 08-Aug-20 19:49:38

Too much heat can drain them of their colour.

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Hetty58 Sat 08-Aug-20 19:57:04

I believe that the acidity or alkalinity of the soil determines whether they are pink or blue.

You can feed/supplement them according to which colour you want.

Maybe, after such a drought in the spring, they have no energy for producing much colour. They do love water (indicated by the 'hydra' in their name).

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25Avalon Sun 09-Aug-20 14:08:20

Elliane yours is like mine was last year. Now this year they are completely washed out. The lace caps next door to it are fine so I don’t believe it is to do with the ph of the soil.

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lemongrove Sun 09-Aug-20 14:21:22

It’s the heat I think, our are the same, they have peaked early and now losing colour.
If you want blue hydrangeas use the tub of hydrangea blue you can buy cheaply from garden centres.
You can also grow them in ericaceous compost in pots.

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ninathenana Sun 09-Aug-20 16:20:50

We moved a pale pink one from the back garden which is south facing to the front north facing garden. It is now a dark magenta colour. DH planted it in the same soil mix so maybe it was affected by the sun.

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jdga Sun 23-Aug-20 05:02:09

Hydrangeas like acidic soil conditions, so 1 method to encourage “blue-ness” is by saving yr morning coffee grounds to mix in around them. I’ve also heard that crushed egg-shells also work.

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jdga Sun 23-Aug-20 05:19:09

It took me a bit to figure out how to post a pic, lol...
Hydrangea in my garden.^^

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Beechnut Sun 23-Aug-20 07:33:38

That’s a gorgeous Colour jdga. I’ll try to do better with mine for next year.

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J52 Sun 23-Aug-20 07:56:23

They lose colour when the flower heads fade, snip them off and you might get new buds.
This year has been good for Hydrangeas and many of mine (10 in total) have produced second blooms.
In previous years there has often been one flowering, which has lasted longer.

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J52 Sun 23-Aug-20 07:58:19