It looks quite nice in those pictures, Kate. PW is a also a good choice too. I wonder if Fire and Ice (a similar VS "competitor") or VS's dwarf (called Strawberry Sundae) also have the same problem.

I am sure that seeing those pink blooms really made your day! Enjoy a few more weeks of that and more repeats in future years!

I wonder if VSs planted in this area will have yur problem or not. Although 100 degrees temperatures are probably mandated by the Texas Constitution in the month of August, hydrangeas go dormant quite late. Maybe that would allow VS to turn those nice colors before real cold temps arrive in December or late Nov.

Luis

This post was edited by luis_pr on Sun, Aug 18, 13 at 14:22

Very nice dublinbay! :)
We only have one Hydrangea (All Summer Beauty)
but still waiting for it to bloom...lol...Maybes its third year will be the charm too!

Again, your Hydrangea looks great!

Gorgeous!! I ordered three online three yrs ago and this is my first year it's turning pink too. I'm loving it too! Be nice if one would start out pink and stay pink. I have either Bella Anna or the other pink one (can't think of its name) and its pretty pink too but diff type blooms.

I'm glad to hear, prettypetals, that your Bella Anna is blooming pink after three years, but just so there is no confusion, Bella Anna is an arborescens like the well-known Annabelle. Bella Anna is pink and reblooms later in the summer. In contrast, Vanilla Strawberry is a paniculata which is supposed to start out white and then develops a half white/half pink color pattern. Later it may become all pink. Its unique feature is that all three types of coloring are supposed to be present on a full-blooming bush--as you can see in my pics above. Vanilla Strawberry is not a re-bloomer; it blooms only in the last part of summer, but fortunately well into the fall (I think).

However they bloom, hydrangea certainly are show pieces, aren't they!

Luis, you were so supportive when I posted laments a couple years ago over my non-performing paniculatas. I'm glad you got to see VS finally doing her thing. I don't know about those other paniculatas you mention--the two I have are the limits of my knowledge of paniculatas. And I'm not even sure if it was lack of maturity or too much heat that kept them white before. If you are growing some of those other paniculatas, we will look forward to your report on this forum. Since prettypetals also had to wait 3 years to get color, maybe it really is just a problem of immaturity.

Jim--hope your hydrangea blooms soon. Thanks for the compliments on my VS.

Kate

Hey Kate, Sorry I was confusing. I have both. My Vanilla Strawberry was ordered online and Bella Anna was purchased locally. My BA has always bloomed pink but not many blooms til this yr. My VS though took 3 yrs to bloom good and turn pink. This has been an amazing year with all my plants. Yes I agree hydrangeas are certainly show pieces!! judy

Well, maybe it is just a maturity thing then. VS just needs to get old enough to turn pink. So if next summer Kansas returns to the 100 degrees we usually have, I can hopefully hope that VS will still bloom and color correctly (I hope). Maybe it is age, not heat, that is causing the problem.

At any rate, I'm glad we both are enjoying some amazing hydrangeas, prettypetals. : )

Kate

Hydrangeas are interesting plants. I've learned the following from a professional grower.

Hydrangeas need three, more often four, years in their site to establish a root system and develop true color in the flowers.

If that shrub is transplanted, it re-establish & be the normal color.

Or, if you disrupt the hydrangea's root system by installing another plant, you will also disrupt the normal coloration of the established hydrangea, perhaps on just one side of the shrub.

If you use fertilizer which contains phosphorus, you will delay the normal color development.

So,to "fertilize" a hydrangea, use compost as a mulch.

Thank you, jean, for those helpful pointers. Good to know so that we gardeners don't let our expectations get out of control.

And now I can quit feeling guilty that I somehow always manage to forget to feed my hydrangeas. Turns out I was doing the right thing!

Kate

Very nice! I just planted a VS a few months back and luckily first year I got some pink with the blooms. Unfortunately, it flops like crazy! It's practically a groundcover right now.

I also planted a Pinky Winky but I did not get much in the way of flowers so far. I think I neded to prune it a bit. Also, there's a birch tree about 10 feet away and I think it is sucking out all the water--I have to give my Pinky Winky more water than my other shrubs, including my VS of similar age/size.

ptw--My Vanilla Strawberry was floppy its first year or two also. I propped it up strategically in several places. This year it was much more self-supporting--until all those big pom-pom blooms started taking over the plant. So that a couple of the lower ones wouldn't get stuck with their heads in the dirt, I did prop them up--but most of the plant, as I said, is now self-sufficient.

And like you, I planted a Pinky Winky the same year--and not too far from a river birch. Perhaps that is why PW is slower in growth than VS, and lankier (rather than full)--or maybe that just is its nature, but like yours, mine is not bursting with fat blooms like VS is. PW blooms are lagging behind those of VS, and the bloom is longer--more pointed--and narrower than the VS bloom is. PW is beginning to start turning to pink, but it is a very subdued effect for now. Up close it looks quite nice, but it doesn't have the drama and carrying power from a distance that VS does.

But you may be right--maybe we should have planted PW further away from our birches--but there is no spot left for me to move it too then--so I guess mine will have to stay where it is.

But don't get me wrong--PW is nice--just not a show-off like VS is.

Kate

You give me hope!!! Its my second year and all i get is faint pink that then turns brown....congratulations!!

so pretty! Nature Hills has them fro sale right now and i really want one. 3 years is a long time to wait for pink in the blooms but wow thats amazing..

My vanilla strawberry just planted this year. It was doing good. Bloomed ahead of neighbors . Has turned to the pink but now blooms near bottom of bloom are turning brownish. What can I do or is it natural? Mine will be done before September while neighbors will be still going.

It is a very young plant, not used to being out in a garden when it could be in a climate controlled greenhouse so it is letting you know that it is getting heat stressed. Increase the amount of water once temperatures typically reach 85F or higher; maintain the soil as evenly moist as you can (not dry but not soggy either); maintain 2-4" of organic mulch (no rocks) to minimize moisture loss; protect when in areas where summer winds will dry it out. And then, there are times when it just happens. Blooms dry out or leaves yellow out. Or leaves turn brown from the edges inwards. Here in Texas, we have a period from July through September that temperatures are normally at or above 100F; that time frame is when VS decides to bloom and, unfortunately, the blooms then prematurely brown out early, sometimes going from white to brown and bypassing the pinks altogether. In cooler areas, it will perform better once it becomes established in the garden but expect temper tantrums in year one for sure.

Agree establishment is needed to see the best pinking on these hydrangeas to get through hot, dry spells in late summer. Without knowing where you are it's hard to say how consistently you will see the pink since it seems to present better at more northerly latitudes or areas with cool summer nights. It's so hot and dry in my yard here in MN my early blooming panicle hydrangeas are going straight brown, no pink.