Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing. How did you paste the pic directly into your post?

Beautiful! :)

Thanks! I'm in hydranea heaven to finally have blooms. My Annabell did really well also. I use Photo Bucket and paste the tag line in the message.

Sandy,

Wow! That's encouraging to see. I have 4 two year old ASB's. They bloomed quite a bit early--a pale pink. They've now faded to almost a cream brown. And I only have a few other buds coming up. I'm guessing I need to do more with the soil pH. What kind of fertilizer to you use to get that many blooms? Can you share with me what you've been doing, because if I could have flower like that next year...I'd be in heaven too! Thanks for sharing.

Lauren

Looking good Sandy.....yg

Lauren,
The only thing I put on them so far was Holly Tone and some coffee grounds along with my homegrown compost. I didn't know what color blooms to expect since this was the first time they bloomed for me. I was worried at first because they started out a real pale yellow/white, like the bloom in the middle. But gradually they became the more intense blue. Some of the blooms are so big, love it. She has some new buds coming, so hopefully they stay blue. Our soil is pretty neutral here, so I might have to adjust later. I did use lots of compost when planting her. Don't remember pruning at all last winter, then this Spring just some of the dead wood. Annabell is peaking in the back there.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep trying and maybe I'll have something close to what you have. One other question though for you...when and how much sun do yours receive? I noticed that you are in zone 6 also. And did you do anything to protect it over the winter? Sorry so many question, it's just that I have had a difficult time finding much info on this particular type of hydrangea and I certainly haven't seen the size and color of blooms that you have. So, in my book, you're my expert :) Thanks again,
Lauren

On the sun question, she gets some hot afternoon sun, a few hours at least. I should pay more attention to the time, not positive. It does wilt quite a bit and then perks up later in the evening. I do water every couple days or so if I see her wilting. Just this week, I tried to incorporate some water crystals around her and added extra mulch to see if that would help.

Nothing to protect over winter except whatever leaves happen to fall around the plant. No expert here. Just lucky I think. Good luck to you too.
Sandy

Thanks for responding to my onslaught of questions. I appreciate it and especially the pictures! Happy Gardening!

Lauren

Your plant is gorgeous! My All Summer Beauty is in its second year too but not nearly as large as yours. I have beautiful pink flowers on mine. I tried adding acid to the soil to get the blue flowers but no luck there. We have heavy clay soil. Mine gets a couple hours of afternoon sun too and will droop but perks back up as soon as its back in the shade. I love mine. It sure beats the Endless Summer variety that my neighbors have planted!

Thanks Shirley! I'm anxious to see the difference between the two in the coming years. Right now my ES is blooming nicely, planted her this Spring. Didn't do a great job on this picture because I was after the hosta. So this is about 1/2 of her. She has some good new growth so far. Love both of them for the paler shade of blue.

Congrats on your success with ASB! I started with this one b/c of its reputation for reblooming and was sorely disappointed without any blooms for 2 1/2 years. I found the key was treating with Ironite solution about 1-2x per month. I had problems with chlorosis and overall stress of ASB until I started supplementing and this has made all the difference in the vigor of this plant on my neutral soil. The blooms have been spectacular this year and I am waiting to evaluate my preference for ASB vs. ES - I think I like the "heft" of ASB better, but I haven't decided about blooms yet....ES is really loaded and is starting with more buds.......