Thursday, June 21, 2007

Endless Summer Hydrangea anyone?

In the summer of 1991, I spent a lovely day on Martha's Vineyard with my parents.
I rented a moped and explored the island for a few hours. I remember this one phrase,
endless summer; it was the first time I had heard that expression.

And that expression is the popular name of a hydrangea,
that blooms all summer long.
Like most hydrangeas that are pink or blue, depending on soil ph. If you want blue
give it iron or aluminum sulphate, if pink, give it lime. Perhaps I have seen it
at a garden center before, I don't know. But it first registered on my mind, when
I saw its picture on the J.C. Raulston Aboreteum's website. Below is a part of the
newsletter I have pasted from this site.

Hydrangea macrophylla Endless SummerT PP15,298
The Endless Summer series of French hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Bailmer' Endless SummerT) will rebloom all summer long. They are now so common that even Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouses and The Home Depot offer them for sale. Hybridizing those with the lacecap French hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Veitchii') produced a mildew resistant rebloomer. A new one called 'Blushing Bride' will be available through a contract agreement between nurseries and the University of Georgia in Athens, in which the University gets a thirty-cent royalty on each plant. Hydrangea 'Waterfall' also blooms spring and fall, but gets mildew in the shade. Fresh from writing a book about hydrangeas, Mike explained how dormant (leafless) hydrangeas will root all year round from single node stem cuttings 6" to 8" long in a bark

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