The real queen of the garden is a magnificent hydrangea. For any grower, it will be a find, delighting, both as a houseplant in a pot and as a garden. When hydrangea blooms, it surprises with its bright flowers for a long time: three to four months. This beautiful summer time the garden will shimmer with different colors, which will be the pride of the hostess.
Hydrangea bloom
Seeing a delicate and elegant flower, it is impossible to take your eyes off. Shrub has about 80 species. Types of hydrangeas:
- Garden: tree-shaped, paniculate, broad-leaved. All these types are quite unpretentious in care and will not require increased attention.
Hydrangea bloom
- Petiole. Also applies to the garden subspecies. Requires serious care. Climbing plant, which is usually decorated with front entrances, arches and perlog.
- Potted room. Short-lived. After three to four years, a plant is required to be transplanted.
Additional Information. The beautiful flower got its name in honor of the sister of the Prince of the Holy Roman Empire - Princess Hortense. According to legend, a long flowering plant conquered her. In addition to a long flowering period, the age of the shrub can be calculated in years. The panicled species, for example, lives up to 60 years.
Each type of shrub blooms at different times. However, the beginning of the blooming of flowers falls on the summer period and continues until the end of autumn.
Flowering period
During the flowering period of hydrangea, the shrub is covered with buds of different colors. Brightness and hue depend on the composition of the soil and the application of a particular fertilizer.
If the soil is neutral, then the plant will give cream flowers. When alkaline - pink buds will appear. In an acidic environment - bright blue.
As a rule, the plant begins to bloom in mid-late July, blooms in late October.
Flowering features
Small flowers of the plant are collected in lush inflorescences having a different shape, depending on the type:
- Spherical (panicled),
- Thyroid.
It happens that not all buds open. In this case, this is due either to the age of the shrub (it was planted last year) or to incorrect pruning in the fall.
Hydrangea inflorescences
In each inflorescence, 2 types of flowers develop:
- The first are small, in the middle part;
- Others are more visible, located along the very edge.
The necessary conditions
Mandatory conditions for a good flower development are:
- Weeding and loosening the soil,
- Top dressing
Note! At the beginning of summer, it is necessary to mulch the shrub using sawdust or peat so that moisture from the soil does not evaporate quickly.
- The correct watering mode,
- Pruning.
When it begins to bloom
Each grower is concerned about the year in which, after planting, hydrangea begins to bloom. As a rule, the bush can give the first buds as early as next year.
Large-leaved Hydrangea Renata Steiniger blooms, a year after planting
Sometimes it happens that the bush is covered with bright flowers only after 2-3 years. In this case, you should pay attention to properly selected soil during planting, as well as choose a place with partial shade.
Hydrangea flowering conditions in the garden
When hydrangea blooms in the garden after planting, it delights.
So that she can bloom seamlessly in the garden, you should:
- Properly fertilize the soil before planting, drain and moisten it well,
- Choose a place for further growth and development (the presence of a shadow is mandatory),
- Protect the plant from strong winds,
- Provide regular watering in the summer,
- Monitor for pests.
Landing is made:
- In the early spring, after thawing the snow,
- In the early autumn, in September.
Proper top dressing
After planting, the plant should be fed only after the third year in the prepared fertilized soil. You can make fertilizer yourself or buy a ready-made mixture.
Garden multi-colored hydrangea
Plan:
- In the spring - this is a complex fertilizer, which consists of macro - and trace elements (the best option is nitrogen).
- When the buds begin to form, then sulfate and superphosphate top dressing is used.
- When the flowers began to bloom, and throughout the season you can feed with chicken litter or cow dung.
Important! Shrub is very fond of lactic acid. You can periodically pour it with milk serum, soured kefir, yogurt.
Disease and Pest Prevention
As a rule, the bush is very resistant to diseases and pests, but it can still become infected.
Diseases:
- Chlorosis. Suffers mainly leaf, which loses its natural color and begins to turn yellow. This is due to the high content of lime and humus in the soil. This disease is treated with a solution of copper sulfate and acid-nitrogen potassium. Every three days, the solutions alternate during watering.
- Powdery mildew is the first pest when excessive humidity occurs. Treatment is made with a solution of copper sulfate with soap. The mixture is worth processing the foliage.
- Green aphid. It is treated with a folk remedy - the infusion of garlic. You can cook by taking 200 grams of chopped garlic, which is bred in a bucket of water. Insist for two days. After adding 50 grams of laundry soap and spray the entire shrub. The procedure is repeated once a week until the aphids completely disappear.
- White rot. This fungus affects rhizomes, as a result, the plant may die from not receiving the necessary nutrients. First of all, young shoots begin to blacken, on which a plaque similar to cotton wool soon appears. It should be treated with fungicides, for example, foundationazole or copper chloride.
- Septoriasis contributes to the death of foliage - dark brown spots on leaves of 2-6 mm in diameter. Affected areas should be removed as quickly as possible, the plant should be treated with copper sulfate.
Additional Information. External factors can negatively affect the flower’s beauty: bright scorching sun, excessively moist soil, lack of fertilizers, and low soil acidity.
To prevent a healthy plant, it is enough to carry out activities:
- Plant the flower in the right place, where there will not be too bright sunlight.
- Provide regular and sufficient watering, in hot time - every other day.
- Make a choice of soil in favor of an acidic species - on alkaline soil the plant will not survive.
- Choose fertilizer.
- Wood prophylaxis: in spring, the plant needs to be treated with copper sulfate (100 grams per bucket of water); it can also be replaced with Topaz or Fitosporin.
How and when to crop
Two crop options:
- In the early spring - before the plant goes into active growth. In this case, the old shoots are removed, young growth is shortened to 3-5 kidneys. The dried inflorescences are removed.
- Late fall after hydrangea has faded. The cropping scheme is the same as in the first version.
Panicle hydrangea pruning in autumn
Old branches should always be removed directly under the root, leaving a small stump. Next year young shoots will start to grow from them.
Rules and terms of feeding
Top dressing is carried out several times during the season:
- spring - nitrogenous
- in the summer - phosphorus-potash,
- in the autumn - phosphoric.
Additional Information. It is important not to overdo it with top dressing. This is especially true for nitrogen fertilizer, otherwise there will be no flowers in the summer.
For what purposes do you need fertilizer:
- Nitrogen - helps the shoots grow actively, leaves - gain green mass,
- Phosphorus - promotes lush flowering, helps roots in winter, enriching them with nutrition,
- Potassium - forms the right buds and helps them open up, lays future buds for the winter.
- Other trace elements - are responsible for the brightness of the color and the setting of buds. Iron helps in the fight against chlorosis.
An ideal variant of top dressing is organic, mineral compounds, which are sold ready-made in specialized flower shops, for example, Superphosphate.
The very first nitrogen fertilizing is carried out in early spring after the "waking up" of the bush and its pruning. If you suddenly failed to feed, do not forget about the second mandatory feeding.
The second, phosphorus-potash, is at the time of bud formation. Ready-made fertilizers can be used.
Fertilizers for hydrangea in the spring
At the time of flowering, the plant fertilizes at will in order to extend the life of the flowers.
The third, phosphate top dressing, is done after flowering, so that the bush planted the buds without difficulty and prepared for wintering.
Rules:
- Before feeding the plant, a small groove is made around the bush, backing 15-20 cm. Liquid or dry fertilizer is introduced into it.
- Then the groove is sprinkled with either humus or, better, acid peat.
- The soil must be well moistened before applying fertilizer.
- Feeding is done either in the early morning or in the evening when there is no scorching sun.
- Dosage is taken strictly according to the instructions.
Soil composition
Soil should be:
- Nutritious
- Light (loose)
- Permeable,
- Sour
- Fertile
- Fresh.
For the soil before planting, it is worth preparing a mixture of humus, peat, sheet land and river sand (proportions - 2: 1: 2: 1).
Additional Information. Do not plant the plant in garden soil, as it will die almost immediately. In such a land there is a large amount of humus. Also, watering, as a rule, in summer cottages is carried out with hard water. On the site, it is best to dig the soil before planting, then make a sufficient amount of mineral fertilizers in it.
Place lighting
The shrub does not like excessively strong sunlight, but also begins to wither away in the shade. The best option for the beauty is considered to be partial shade, where sometimes the sun's rays slip through.
In hot weather, the shrub can begin to dry out very quickly, especially if it was not given a darkened place. Hydrangea loves diffused light, the shade of the midday sun.
Additional Information. Excessive sunlight will inhibit the active growth of the bush. In full shadow, growth will slow down somewhat, flowering will not be lush and bright, leaves will become stiff, dense and dark green.
Care after flowering
After the bush has bloomed, pruning should be carried out if it was not done in the spring. Then start preparing for the winter.
Additional Information. Hydrangea is afraid of frosts, so you should immediately prepare for winter, not reaching the last moment. If the plant is left uncovered, while the buds freeze, then the bush will not bloom for the next season.
After flowering, all leaves should be removed from the bush, and the branches should be gathered together. Wrap them in reliable shelter material. The bush itself is slightly bent to the ground, subsequently covered with coniferous branches. Only after the last frosts leave in the spring can the plant be opened.
Additional Information. If desired, a layer of mulch about 10 centimeters can also be poured under the bush. If the shrub is too tall with flexible branches, they are laid on the board, secured with slings, then covered. It is important not to break the tender branches with this procedure.
Reasons why hydrangea did not bloom
Why hydrangea may not bloom:
- An abundance of shade near the bush,
- Incorrect pruning
- Severe kidney damage due to bad weather (especially true for hydrangeas with large leaves),
- Unshielded shoots for the winter died.
Hydrangea Kalina does not bloom
It is also important to give the bush full nutrition. With excessive feeding, hydrangea will not bloom for a long time. The best option would be to not feed her than to feed twice.
For a plant to bloom well, it needs a well-developed root system. In young animals, it forms for a long time, especially if too much fertilizer has been introduced.
Additional Information. If a plant refuses to bloom at home, this may be due to a number of reasons. Most often this: poor lighting, inappropriate soil, sparse watering, temperature fluctuations in the room. Or the bush already requires transplanting into open ground.
Hydrangea is a luxurious base of a summer cottage or home corner. If you give her full care and care, completely eliminating the attack of pests, she will continue to grow and be able to bloom annually. The juicy color of a large number of pink, blue, white blossoming buds and bright green foliage will decorate any hedge, forcing passersby to stop and enjoy the beauty.
