Light Blue Hydrangea #1
by J McCombie
Title
Light Blue Hydrangea #1
Artist
J McCombie
Medium
Photograph - Untouched
Description
The large-flowered 'Garden Director Kuhnert' produces big dome-shaped clusters of rich blue to pink flowers in mid to late summer, depending on the acidity of the soil. This vigorous mophead hydrangea bears lots of showy blooms that are excellent for cutting and drying. Hydrangea macrophylla is a medium-sized, deciduous shrub with large attractive leaves. This eastern Asian native typically produces large flower clusters with small fertile flowers towards the center and showy sterile flowers along the edges, but highly cultivated forms like this one have mostly sterile flowers. Flower color varies depending on soil pH. Alkaline soils encourage pinker blooms and acid soils bluer. Those of 'Garden Director Kuhnert' tend towards blue but will turn shades of pink in more alkaline soils.
Hydrangea (common names hydrangea or hortensia) is a genus of 70-75 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia (China, Japan, Korea, the Himalayas, and Indonesia) and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Japan, and Korea. Most are shrubs 1 to 3 meters tall, but some are small trees, and others lianas reaching up to 30 m (98 ft) by climbing up trees. They can be either deciduous or evergreen, though the widely cultivated temperate species are all deciduous.
There are two flower arrangements in hydrangeas. Mophead flowers are large round flowerheads resembling pom-poms or, as the name implies, the head of a mop. In contrast, lacecap flowers bear round, flat flowerheads with a center core of subdued, fertile flowers surrounded by outer rings of showy, sterile flowers. The flowers of some rhododendrons can appear similar to those of some hydrangeas, but Rhododendron (including azalea) is in a different order.
First discovered in Japan, the name hydrangea comes from the Greek “hydor,” meaning water, and “angos,” meaning jar or vessel. This roughly translates to “water barrel,” referring to the hydrangea’s need for plenty of water and its cup-shaped flower. With its wooden stems and lacy, star-shaped flowers packed closely together in a pompom, the hydrangea’s color ranges from white to blue to pink and purple, determined by the acidity level of the soil.
There remains some debate over the hydrangea’s symbolism – with some connecting it to vanity and boastfulness (perhaps reflecting its abundance of petals and lavish, rounded shape) and others suggesting that a bouquet of hydrangea expresses the giver’s gratefulness for the recipient’s understanding. Still others suggest it represents anything that’s sincerely heartfelt. Despite this variation in flower meaning, there appears to be an overwhelming consensus that this 4th wedding anniversary flower possesses enduring grace and beauty.
Uploaded
December 24th, 2014
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