Hey Denise, The leaves are a little different, mine seems to have a few more cross lines making a more waffle or box patteren. Not the best photo, but you can what I mean. Your explanation sounds like a good one, I have read that temperature can effect flower color such and lilies, so maybe it's possible for certain hoyas to have changes because of where and how it was grown, as well as being Seed grown and light. Maybe a combination of these contribute to flower color and subtle leaf changes. mikedahms I own the first hoya which I bought online, the second is a "photo" I found online, so I can't tell you how that one was grown. Thanks puglvr1, Yes, my macrophlla (first photo) is variegated. Billy Rae

I hope your ES#2 will drink up some too as well. Some old plants resist color change no matter what people try. But when they do, they do look nice as you describe. I saw one nice photo last year, I think, and it was very nice. It was in a NE garden and only one of the hydrangea bushes was doing this. Perhaps watering/applying by hand (instead of sprinkler or drip) may help with your ES #2. Try to dissolve the a/s as much as possible. It does tend to resist dissolving in water some, which causes it to accumulate on the top soil or on the bottom of the watering container as globs. Another hint: reduce phosphate levels and do not apply triple super phosphate since phosphate reduces the aluminum intake from the plants and keeps the blooms pink. It would be interesting to see if a different concentration of aluminum & different acidity level suddenly changes the sepals' colors. I tend to apply a/s in early spring only so I do not notice an effect later in the growing season. Someone who applies a/s and maintains the acidity level that way may not notice it either. The best way would be for someone who has not used a/s, to apply it after the blooming. I have some hydrangeas in the front of the house that only get sulphur spread on them in spring so I may try on them to see what happens. The effect should not be immediate though and could take weeks. Regarding the package directions, the package that I have is Hi-Yield Aluminum Sulphate; it is 0.1% aluminum and 14.4% sulphur. If your package's concentrations are the same, Hi-yield's instructions may work for you. Those instructions for shrubs say: "2 cups approximately equals 1 pound. Use one pound per 3 feet of height. Mix one pound in 5 gallons of water and apply at the drip line of the shrub. Hi-yield Aluminum Sulphate can also be spread dry around the drip line and watered in." Do remember that less is more so try 3-4 cups only, spread throughout and not in globs.

Glad to be of help. :) I (just) bought all three of those Everlastings in Spring 2013, and purposely stuck them in different places to test hardiness (pot, foundation, and outlying north-facing bed). They all started at about 18" at purchase. The Revolution is by far the most compact, staying at about that size. The others grew to about 24" (Opal) and 30" (Harmony). But being first year forced plants, that growth wasn't entirely accurate as they were already budded by May. Seeing as how the winter was tough on everything, I haven't been able to conclude anything new, as there hasn't yet been green stuff on ANY branches of ANY H. mac, just the first 3" of stem. Even now, things like old deciduous trees are just starting to leaf out, so that tells you how much of a delay things are running on. But yes, these new plants quickly integrate very well into any landscape. I plan on getting a couple more breeds of these when and where available for a good price. The rest I plan to stick in front of a row of slightly taller shrubs (Annabelle and Nikko) in staggered fashion. The color-changing aspects and long-lasting blooms were 100% as advertised last year on all three. Just yesterday, I picked up an Amethyst 1.5 gallon for $17 at a local hardware store that has a keen knack for ordering new releases (they also had 2-gallon Bloomstrucks for $19).

keith, i think your dark red colour might return if you attempt to turn the flowers blue. some of the dwarf varieties are quite strongly pink, even on neutral soils. these colour up deep red to purple when on acid soils or with blueing treatment. i wonder how our once magnificent collection of hydrangeas are looking in the melbourne bot. gardens? they normally look wonderful before christmas. all the names have been muddled for decades but the plants are still there. (i recognise the local dialect, mate! no worries!) rob...