Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nikko Blue,’ which is wildly popular and rightfully so, has enormous, spherical flower heads that can measure up to 5 inches across (12 cm) and are packed tightly with rich, deep blue florets. ‘Nikko Blue’ is exceptionally floriferous and develops fresh flower stalks all summer long, blooming in the early summer for up to two months. Large, glossy, serrated leaves with a medium green colour make up the foliage. It is a well-known name for mophead hydrangeas and is now used as the benchmark for other blue hydrangeas.
- This robust deciduous shrub normally grows 4-6 feet tall and wide, with a round form (120-180 cm).
- It thrives on rich, medium-moisture, well-drained soils and enjoys some shade. If there is constant moisture present, full sun is tolerated.
- No significant pest or disease problems. Keep an eye out for leaf spots, mildew, bacterial wilt, and bud blight.
- Perfect for container and foundation plantings. grouped in a protected area or used as a decorative plant. effective as a hedge and also produces top-notch cut flowers!
- The flowers are blue in acidic soils and change pink in alkaline soils. Adding lime to the soil will turn the blossoms pink, while adding aluminium sulphate will make them bluer. Treatment should start in advance (late fall or early spring).
- To encourage new blooms, remove discarded flowers.
- After flowering, this lovely deciduous shrub needs to be trimmed, with the stems being cut back to a pair of sound buds. In the early spring, remove weak or winter-damaged stems.
- Japan is the species’ natural home of the hydrangea macrophylla. From Honshu southward, reports of it come from both mountainous and seaside environments in Japan. In China, New Zealand, and the Americas, this species has become a native species.
- Ingestion may result in a minor stomach ache, and coming into contact with foliage may make skin allergies worse. When handling, put on gloves and other protective gear.
Do Nikko blue hydrangeas have a long blooming season?
All summer long, this deciduous mop head hydrangea blooms with stunning 4-inch blue blooms. Instead of only the top of the plant, as with other types, blossoms appear all over the plant. More alkaline soils may cause the flower heads to turn pinker.
This plant grows quickly and will be fully grown in just two or three years. It’s a wise option for a rapidly expanding privacy screen. This shrub can be used as an accent plant, foundation planting, addition to a border of mixed shrubs, or to make a colourful hedge. Use the dried flowers for craft projects after cutting a few blossoms to make lovely bouquets.
Do hydrangeas called Nikko blue bloom every year?
Your garden would be the ideal place for the Nikko Blue Hydrangea. This hydrangea will undoubtedly add colour to your landscape with its thick, green leaves and enormous flowers.
Your Nikko Blue Hydrangea can be planted anyplace. Planting hydrangeas as a specimen, in groups of three, or even as a hedge are all options. Up to 5 feet tall and 5 feet broad, this hydrangea will grow.
Acidic soil is ideal for this Nikko Blue Hydrangea. The colour of the blossoms will be pinker if the soil is more neutral in size. For bluer blooms, add aluminium sulphate to the soil.
In places with full sun to partial shade, hydrangeas will flourish. After planting, make sure to continue watering your new hydrangea. When dry, hydrangeas are the first plant in the landscape to wilt.
The Nikko Blue Hydrangea requires little upkeep. Your hydrangea will bloom again if you prune the old blooms after each bloom. To preserve size in the winter, lightly prune.
Make sure you have the ideal site and environmental conditions for your new Nikko Blue Hydrangea plants before you plant them. Hydrangeas grow best in the spring and fall. In the summer, when temperatures are in the mid- to high-80s, avoid planting hydrangeas.
The Nikko Blue Hydrangea enjoys moist, fertile, acidic soil and needs full sun to partial shade. Hydrangeas thrive in areas with some shade in hot weather. If your soil is alkaline, be sure to amend it to keep the rich blue hue. Use compost, elemental sulphur, or fertilisers designed for plants that thrive in acidic environments to acidify your soil. As they start to decompose and naturally add acidity to the soil, mulching with pine bark or straw will aid over time. In the summer and the first year after planting, keep the soil wet but not waterlogged. Hydrangeas benefit most from a deep watering once per week in hot weather throughout their whole lifespan. Mulching hydrangeas at a depth of about 3 inches is highly advised. Mulching will reduce your plant’s requirement for watering and protect it from harsh weather. For plants that love acid, pick a fertiliser with a delayed release. For optimal results, fertilise once in the spring after the last chance of frost and once again in the early summer. Hydrangeas don’t require pruning, although after they finish blooming, pruning can assist promote bushier growth and rejuvenate an older plant.
Giving your plants the right care is the best defence against illness and pests. The keys to your success are selecting the right place, providing adequate water, and fertilising. Using neem oil or insecticidal soap, you can naturally treat mites, scale, whiteflies, and aphids. Use pesticides like carbaryl, often known as Sevin, for severe infections. Making sure the planting area has sufficient drainage and refraining from overhead watering will help prevent fungus infection. A fungicide can be used to treat fungal infections. In general, treating fungus after infection is ineffective, so if you’ve had issues with other plants or in a previous year, treat early in the spring as a preventative measure.
You have countless planting possibilities with the Nikko Blue Hydrangea due to its compactness. This hydrangea is ideal for compact areas, pots, and even small gardens! Almost anywhere can be an accent in your landscape! You’ll adore the hedge or group planting’s never-ending blossoms.
When do hydrangeas bloom?
The type, cultivar, planting zone, and hydrangea blooming season all affect when they bloom. The majority of hydrangeas with new growth form buds in the early summer in preparation for blooming the next spring, summer, and early fall. Hydrangeas may stop flowering in the heat of the summer in hot locations, but they will blossom again in the fall.
How do you cut back hydrangeas?
Hydrangea plants don’t require pruning if they are allowed plenty of room to develop in the garden. Only the periodic clearance of dead wood is necessary.
Do you need to deadhead hydrangeas?
Your hydrangeas will continue to bloom into the fall if you deadhead them. Hydrangeas make wonderful cut flowers, so there’s no need to wait until the flower wilts. Leave the early fall blossoms alone so they can fade naturally. In the days leading up to your freeze date, you don’t want to promote new growth.
How do you control hydrangea color?
The distinction of hydrangeas is that you can modify their colour. But keep in mind that not all hydrangea varieties can change their colour. H. macrophylla, a species of bigleaf hydrangea, responds to changes in soil pH. Hydrangeas can absorb aluminium thanks to a low soil pH, which gives the blossoms a lovely blue hue. Reduce the pH of your soil by mixing in sulphur or peat moss to enhance the number of blue hydrangea flowers. Throughout the growth season, you can keep amending your soil with extra aluminium sulfate. When you add ground limestone to boost the pH, pink and red blooms shine.
You may precisely modify your hydrangea colour using a soil pH test. To avoid the plant from being harmed, keep the pH level below 7.5. In the fall, all hydrangeas will naturally fade regardless of the modifications you’ve made. Don’t worry, the plant will display vibrant, new blossoms once more in the spring.
Can hydrangeas grow in shade?
Although they won’t blossom in complete shade, hydrangeas prefer dappled or infrequent shade. How much sun do hydrangeas need is more important to consider than whether they love the sun or the shade. Your hydrangeas require more sunlight the further north in your garden you are. A general guideline is six hours of sunlight each day. However, southern hydrangeas can thrive with just three hours of sunlight per day.
Can hydrangeas grow in full sun?
While hydrangeas prefer morning sun, they struggle in the hot, afternoon sun. For these gorgeous creatures, partial shade in the later hours of the day is optimal.
Can you grow hydrangeas in pots?
Even if you don’t have enough room in your garden to cultivate hydrangeas, you can still enjoy these lovely blossoms by learning how to grow hydrangea in a pot. As long as you follow the fundamentals of caring for hydrangeas, the procedure is rather straightforward. Select a pot with at least an 18-inch diameter to accommodate the mature size of the particular hydrangea you are growing. In order to maintain the constant moisture level that hydrangeas demand, look for non-porous containers. Excess water will be able to adequately drain thanks to drainage holes. Consider growing dwarf hydrangeas like Buttons ‘n Bows, Mini Penny, and Little Lime.
How do you keep hydrangeas from wilting?
Morning irrigation on a regular basis can assist stop withering. Some hydrangea cultivars simply can’t stand the heat. No matter how much water you give them, they will begin to wilt in the afternoon heat. Mulch applied in layers can help soil retain moisture and stay cool. You shouldn’t be concerned if your hydrangeas bloom again once the day cools. A little midday wilting is preferable to overwatering and drowning your hydrangeas.
Many customers ask why their hydrangeas aren’t blooming. The primary reasons hydrangeas don’t bloom are incorrect pruning, bud damage due to winter and/or early spring weather, location and too much fertilizer.
There are hydrangea kinds that bloom on either fresh or old wood, or even both. Both new and old wood are the growth of the following year (spring), respectively.
- Consider that this year, you bought a Nikko Blue Hydrangea. For the next year, Nikko’s produce blooms in the fall. Your Nikko is therefore creating blooms this fall that will blossom in the spring.
- Therefore, you wouldn’t want to completely prune your Nikko Blue Hydrangea this fall while you are pruning your perennials. Pruning the Nikko Blue Hydrangea this fall would effectively mean cutting off your hydrangea flowers for the upcoming spring.
- The idea behind Endless Summer, a hydrangea variety that blooms on both old and new wood, is that the plant will set blooms this fall to blossom not only in the spring of the following year, but will also keep producing blooms in the spring of the following year to extend the blossoms into the summer.
- Once more, pruning your Endless Summer hydrangea in the fall would mean removing some of the flowers that would blossom in the spring.
The hydrangea’s plant tag will indicate whether it blooms on fresh wood, old wood, or both. It is typically preferable to wait until spring to prune your hydrangeas. As the plant grows, you’ll see stems that are fragile when bent and lack any leaves. Since these stems are dead and won’t produce any flowers, they should be clipped close to the plant’s base.
The second reason why your hydrangeas aren’t blooming is probably the weather. Buds of hydrangeas are extremely susceptible to cold. Therefore, it is a good idea to wrap your hydrangea for the winter if it is an old wood hydrangea. Keep in mind that old wood hydrangeas establish their blooms for the following spring in the fall. Therefore, you won’t have blossoms in the spring if the fall-produced buds are frozen in the winter.
You can wrap anything with regular burlap. Burlap should be wrapped around the plant and filled with mulch or leaves after the first hard frost and after the hydrangea’s leaves have dropped. In order for the buds to survive the winter and sprout the following spring, the plant receives insulation from this. Never wrap your hydrangeas in plastic. When warmer winter days arrive, the plant cannot breathe since plastic, unlike burlap, doesn’t breathe. As a result, the plant can heated to such high temperatures that it cooks within the plastic and perishes.
The second most frequent weather-related cause hydrangeas do not blossom is late spring killing frosts. We saw really chilly temperatures in April both this year and last year after beautiful spring days. When springtime temperatures drop below freezing, hydrangeas need to be covered with an old beach towel or sheet. Because of the temperature dip, there won’t be any blossoms.
The majority of hydrangeas require at least 3 to 4 hours of light per day to bloom. The best light is in the early morning, midday light is acceptable if it is dabbled light rather than beating sun, and afternoon sun is typically too hot. Check the plant label, though. Newer hydrangea cultivars are being created that can withstand more sun exposure time and sun intensity. A hydrangea in full sun will require much more watering than one in diffused light, so keep that in mind.
High nitrogen fertiliser should not be used to feed hydrangeas. Nitrogen is indicated by the first number on the fertiliser ratio. (The ratio stands for N, P, and K) For healthy leaves and general good growth, some nitrogen (N) is required; however, a ratio of 8-16-6 or any similar combination with a higher middle or phosphorus (P) value is prefered. The growth of roots and shoots is encouraged by phosphorus, which improves the blooming process.
Potash (K), the third element’s last quantity and the lowest ratio, is for plant hardiness. Because hydrangeas prefer acidic soil, they can be fertilised with fertilisers designed for such plants. Hydrangeas only require fertilising twice a year, once in early spring and once in mid-summer. To avoid root burn, make sure the soil is always moist before applying a fertiliser.
Blue Nikko hydrangeas: how do you keep them blue?
Although most plants may grow in a variety of soils, others require particular kinds of soil to thrive. Rhododendrons, azaleas, and other ericaceous plants require acidic soils in order to thrive. The soil in your garden must be acidic if they flourish there or in the gardens nearby. Rhododendron leaves turning yellow or disappearing from the area indicate that your soil is likely alkaline. In addition to affecting what you may grow, your soil type can also affect some plants’ leaf and blossom colours; hydrangeas are a well-known example.
Some hydrangea cultivars grow pink or red in alkaline soil and blue or purple in acidic soil. Therefore, if you plant a beautiful blue lacecap or mophead hydrangea in your garden and your soil is neutral to acidic, it will continue to produce blue flowers every year. Even if it was clear blue when you got it, it will flower purple-red or pink if you plant it in alkaline soil the next year.
It is challenging to keep beautiful blue blossoms alive in the open ground, but it is doable if you grow it in a pot; hydrangeas make wonderful topics for pots and containers. Select a pot that is attractive and big, at least 40 cm (15 cm) in diameter. Vitax Ericaceous Compost is the best growing medium for it; plant it there. If you consistently feed your hydrangea, it will thrive on this fertiliser that is specifically made for rhododendrons, azaleas, and other lime-hating plants.
Even though the growing medium begins out being free of lime, repeated watering in places with hard water tends to make it more alkaline. Therefore, add Vitax Hydrangea Colourant, a powder containing aluminium that you may mix with the compost, to ensure that your hydrangea stays truly blue. Each spring, you can also incorporate a small amount into the soil’s top layer and add it to the can when watering your plant.
White hydrangeas, incidentally, don’t change colour depending on the type of soil, but they can blush pink in the light.
Feeding and watering
In pots, containers, and during dry spells in the open ground, regular watering is necessary since hydrangeas detest dry environments. When you plant your hydrangea in a bed or border, add lots of garden compost or farmyard manure, and make sure to water well both before and after planting.
The presence of food in the soil is necessary for hydrangeas to grow and produce flowers, even if they are not very demanding plants. In the open ground and in pots and containers, Vitax Conifer and Shrub Fertilizer should be used annually. This is ideal for acid-loving plants and won’t change the hydrangea’s colour.