Hey Material Girl, Open Your Heart... to Hydrangeas

As most floral enthusiasts already know, Hydrangeas have been getting quite a bit of attention in the social media circuit lately, which is quite a coincidence, since my planned topic for this week was Hydrangeas (I swear!). Of course, I planned on sharing some insight into how we grow them, not who likes them or, well, doesn't.

Back in June, I talked a bit about Hydrangeas - their meaning, ancient uses, care tips, etc. Today, I'm going to give you the Sun Valley spin on these lovable mop heads, thanks to Tim, the grower who gave us a "Bells and Whistles" tour of our Love and Royal Lilies a few weeks ago. A short stroll through our Arcata Shade Houses gave me a lot more insight into the lone perennial we grow at our Arcata farm (and further convinced me that the original Princess of Pop is crazy).

Here's what I learned about the gigantic blooms being passionately defended by growers and florists everywhere:

First of all, as I just mentioned, Hydrangeas are perennials that continuously provide growth for what Tim estimates to be about 20 years. (Back in the 90's, one of Tim's first jobs at Sun Valley was to prune the very same Hydrangea plants that are still growing here today. That should give you some idea of how long these things grow!) Each year, the large, leafy bushes produce multi-flowered blooms in a range of colors, mostly blues, pinks, purples and whites.

As I mentioned in my previous Hydrangea post, the pH balance of the soil determines the color of Hydrangeas. As a general rule of green thumb, a pH of 5.5 or lower gives you a blue Hydrangea, and a pH of 6.5 and higher gives you a pink Hydrangea. (Regardless of pH, white is white.) The soil at our Humboldt farm tends to be a bit on the acidic side, so in order to produce more pinks, the growers send a base solution (calcium carbonate) through the irrigation tubes to certain crops.

Of course, color characteristics vary among different varieties. As we toured the Hydrangea Shade Houses, we strolled past red and green "Antique Hamburgs," "Kuhnert" blues, "Oregon Pride" pinkish-purples, "Merritt Supreme" perfect dark purples, and a variety of brand new Dutch hybrids in exciting new colors (and growing techniques).

I should note here that Antique Hydrangeas, certain varieties that have hardened on the vine prior to harvest and appear "marbled" in color, sometimes get a bad rap due to a few common misconceptions (and not just because of recent negative publicity created by the Material Girl). Let's go ahead and clear up those fallacies right now: Some browning of the petals occurs naturally and just requires a bit of manicuring. It is NOT decay! When Hydrangeas "Antique" or "Heirloom," they develop a marbled appearance and start to show colors that can be confused with decay. This is NOT decay! Furthermore, Antique Hydrangeas will not wilt like fresh blooms, nor do their heads require submerging in water. So, they're actually pretty fantastic. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here are some of the varieties we saw in the Shade Houses...

"Antique Hamburg" - Tim said this variety is "bullet-proof" and a grower's favorite.
Sun Valley's "Antique Hamburg" Hydrangeas won Best in Show at SAF in 2004.

"Oregon Pride" pinkish-purple Hydrangeas

"Merritt Supreme" deep purple Hydrangeas

We grow a majority of our Hydrangea crops in Shade Houses, which mainly serve to keep rain off the plants and to shield them from too much sunlight, thus prolonging their growing season (they love water and some sun, but you know the saying - "Too much of a good thing..."). Our Hydrangea season can start as early as June 1st and end as late as December 1st (or with the first frost of the season).

An old Hydrangea plant (no longer used for harvesting) grows right out in the open sun.
Notice how the "sunburn" has faded the color of the blooms.

According to Tim, all the rage in Hydrangea Land are the new Dutch hybrids that we've just started growing. These Hydrangeas produce more flowers per plant, widen the range of colors available on the market, and bloom on one-year-old wood. Aside from their inherent benefits, the interesting thing about these crops is that, as opposed to growing them in the ground like our senior-status Hydrangea crops, we're growing them in large pots. This technique allows our growers more control or the soil alkalinity and the amount of water the plants receive. Take a look at these new varieties...

Rows of pots full of new variety, "Pearl" Hydrangea, the ideal pearly white

"Glowing Alps" Hydrangea is a brilliant glowing hot pink color

Cheery pink "Opal" Hydrangeas against a backdrop of "Pearl" Hydrangeas

When our fresh Hydrangeas are harvested, the Hydrangea team dunk the heads of the plants in cool water for a good five minutes before putting them back right side-up in buckets of water and hydration solution. When they're ready to ship, they're normally packed in a plastic wrap in order to keep the humidity high. Tim noted that Hydrangeas have the root word "Hydra-" or water (we couldn't remember if this was Greek or Latin), meaning these plants love that water! ("Hydra-" is Latin, in case you're wondering.)

This is where I ended my tour with Tim. If you want a few useful care tips for your beloved Hydrangeas, take a look at my previous Hydrangea post here. And remember: If you love Hydrangeas, go ahead and Express Yourself. Don't worry about Madonna.

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