The Big Blue Hydrangea - Who Knew About The Nails!

All of a sudden there has been an explosion of beautiful blue hydrangea bushes in our area. I don't know if it was all the snow this winter or all the rain we've been having. Whatever it is it has caused my hydrangea bushes and those of my neighbors to bloom more than they ever have. For the 20 years we've had ours this is by far the most they have ever bloomed.

For the first few years we didn't get any blossoms. Then we got a couple. The blossoms were small and the color was a pale blue. Several years ago we started to get more of the blossoms. That was when I decided not to cut them back in the Fall.

When I was a child my grandparents had hydrangea bushes and they were always in magnificent bloom in the summer. They always cut their bushes back to within 6" of the ground each and every Fall.

Well, I just loved them and wanted to have some of my own so I planted two bushes in my yard some 20 years ago. I diligently cut them back every Fall, but was disappointed the first few years as they didn't produce the beautiful blue flowers I love.

So, I decided to stop cutting them and they started to bloom. Well, this year they exploded.

In talking to my brother about them I told him my colors were deep blue, light blue, some pink, and some lilac.

He said, "You need to use nails."

I responded, "What? What are you talking about?"

He said, "You need to drive 5 or 6 nails into the ground around the bushes. Regular nails. Not galvanized. The hydrangea's love them and will bloom with deep blue blossoms every year. That's what I do and my hydrangea's are beautiful every year."

Nails in the ground to get beautiful blue hydrangea's!. Now that's a new one for me. But, I'm gonna try it. I'll let you know next year how they turn out. For now I'm just enjoying the beautiful blue colors.

Maybe my grandparents used nails? Hmmmm......