Hydrangeas...Pass it on!

Today we're talking about plants, specifically hydrangeas; and the idea of "heirloom" plants, passing pieces of gardens on from one place to another and one person to another, or through generations of a family.  We've all heard of heirloom roses, but in my family, the tradition developing appears to be
heirloom hydrangeas.

If you've ever seen the old mop-head hydrangeas, huge bushes bursting with enormous round clusters of blue, pink, purple, or white blooms, you know what I'm talking about!  These plants are Gorgeous!  And here in the south, they are an absolute classic.

Hydrangea bush starting to bloom

Growing up in North Carolina, our house had a whole side of it lined with big blue mop-head hydrangeas.  They were stunning!  Hydrangeas are rather large bushes and they do spread and fill in an area over time.  When our family moved to Maryland in my teens, my parents dug up some of the hydrangea shoots/clusters and took them along.  They were planted at our new home where they continued to grow, thrive, and spread.  Many years later, the process was again repeated as my parents retired back to North Carolina, and brought some of those original hydrangeas with them.  Their yard is currently full of numerous varieties of hydrangea, including those original mop-heads from my growing up home.

The newly planted Hydrangea Row (as we're calling it)

This past summer, my husband and I started doing a lot of overdue renovation to our yard.  We decided we needed some large bushes (that could tolerate some shade) to line our back porch, and naturally my thoughts turned to hydrangeas.  Upon mentioning this to my family, they offered to thin some of theirs.  Free Plants?  Yes Please!!

We thinned mop-head hydrangeas from various parts of their yard, but I must admit I was most excited to get some "sticks" my father cut off those old original hydrangeas.  Now, when I say "sticks", that is exactly what they were!  Some of the hydrangeas we received were small clusters with roots, but these were literally sticks, cut off the plants.  I had heard that you can propagate hydrangeas that way, but never having tried it, was a little skeptical about their future growth and development.  I am certainly not a garden wizard.

Planted hydrangea shoots (sticks)

Never-the-less, I brought the plants, (and sticks) home, and set about getting them into their new location.  The plants with roots were immediately planted in the ground.  As for the "heirloom sticks" (as we now referred to them), I first trimmed or freshly cut the bottom parts.  Then they were wet with water, and dipped into rooting powder (or had powder (rather liberally) sprinkled on them depending how big the stem was).  After that, all the "sticks" were planted in the ground in a large cluster and watered - a lot.  Hydrangeas need lots of water, especially when new. 

For the next couple weeks I diligently checked my sticks - somewhat unconvinced of their survival, as I saw their sad, wilted leaves curl up and turn brown.

Then suddenly a few weeks (and some hurricane rains) later - buds!  

And a few weeks after that?
Leaves!! They grew Leaves!!

The heirloom hydran- geas might just make it to carry on; and maybe someday once they've grown and spread, I can continue the tradition and pass them on again! 

In the mean time, I can't wait to see them grow and fill in.  And maybe one day, my children will remember those large mop-head hydrangeas all along their back porch growing up.  Pass it on!


Cheers!
Christine