hydrangea has changed colour?

Question

I bought a hydrangea in the summer with pink flowers (lacecap?).
Slowly the flowers turned green, now it just looks like a foliage plant.

Answer 1

Hydrangeas change color based on the acidity of the soil. The more acid...the more colorful they will be. (Lots of acid makes them BLUE!) Green and white indicate a lack of acid, altho the colors fade as the flower dries and ageson the stem. It takes a long time for the plant to display according to the soil (as much time as a year.) Your local garden center or Wal-Mart, will have a soil acidifier. Use according to directions and be patient. Hydranges are VERY tough and in most cases and you can have some fun with the colors! (try adding acidifier to one side of the bush for an interesting color variation.) If I remember correctly, Lace Cap doesn't bloom on new wood so prune it only to shape it and never cut it completely to the ground or too severely, and if you live in colder climate, be sure to mulch it with grass, leaves or newspaper, after the top 2 inches of ground have frozen. In the spring, slowly remove the mulch, so you don't shock it. Keep it watered deeply (slowly add about 2 gallons at a time and make sure the water doesn't run off) in summer dry periods. (sometimes as much as twice a day watering is needed until well established!) Your Hydrangea will reward you well! I own 5 Blue Nikko, Endless Summer Hydrangeas and Love them! They were worth the work!
Also, rule of thumb for perennials....the first year they creep, the second year they sleep, the third year they LEAP!
Hope it goes well!

Answer 2

All of these answers above mine are correct, but they are not the right answer to your question.

No matter whether the hydrangea blooms pink or blue or something intermediate, for many varieties, eventually the flowerhead's "pretty" color will fade. Many of them fade to pale green, although a few will turn rusty colors like tree foliage, or blush red or show purple streaks when frost/cold hits. In Los Angeles this year we had a record heat wave after this summer's first bloom, and so everyone's hydrangeas bleached almost right away, and turned a a light-but-living brown almost immediately after flowering.

Of interest only because I am surprised by this, one of mine, a variety called Penny Mac, has chosen to bloom again right now. Don't know if it normally does this or not.

Most hydrangeas are not readily fertile to produce seed, so for most of them this is not a big deal in terms of taking energy from the plant. But if your lacecap is an older variety, it might be fertile and these flowerheads will be producing seed.

If you find the green heads pretty, leave them on. If not, chances are good you will have a healthier plant by cutting them off. Be very careful to only cut them off and nothing else, because by this time of year, your next year's blooms are already in the stems.

Answer 3

Perfectly normal for your hydrangea....Hydrangea Macrophylla "lacecap" will have pink to blue flowers depending on your soils acidity level. Pink would indicate your soil is alkaline. Add Aluminum Sulfate to acidify your soil and turn flowers blue. Keep in mind hydrangea Macrophylla is the only variety where you can control color.

After blooming flowers will fade to green and eventually to brown. Remove dead flowers in late winter or early spring. Nothing to worry about.

Answer 4

I planted a pink hydrangea once, and acouple of years later the flowers came out blue. So just wait and see what your plant will do.

Answer 5

The color as changed because of the soil that it is in. In order for your Hydrangea to go back to pink, try putting a few rusty nails in the soil around the plant. I am serious, the soil is lacking iron. Or you could go to a store and pay alot of money for something that you may already have in your garage or shed.
Since your plant has already began to bloom, in may take another blooming season to go back to the color that you prefer.
You can also add tea or coffee grounds to create more acid in the soil. This will turn your blooms into, my personal favorite, light blue.

Answer 6

I have never heard of a hydrangea turning green, they often turn blue if there is a high iron content in the soil.

Answer 7

its to do with the acidity in your soil, ive been told that if you put copper near the roots, the flowers will turn red, or at least reddish.
in facvt i heard somewhere that if you place to copper forks in the ground near an hydrangea, and place a piece of copper filament between them, then touch the filament with a small torch bulb, there is normally enough electical current produced to light it up.

Answer 8

have you replanted it because the flowers change colour with different types of soil acid soil blue flower and so on have a look on the BBC gardening web site for more information

Answer 9

Yep, sounds right ! they can change colour and are very susceptable to soil type.

Add some ericasious compost into the soil and the colour will return next year.

Answer 10

Thats normal - leave the flower heads on until the spring, then prune the whole plant.