01_Spring%202010

Everette Jones, owner of Shady Characters nurs-

ery, a local, family owned nurs-

ery in Aiken specializing in her-

baceous perennials for the shady

woodland garden. With an

original emphasis on Hostas, the

nursery has expanded to include

other companion plants. Nu-

merous selections of Heucheras,

Tiarellas, Ferns and Hardy Gin-

gers are available along with

many other plants that are un-

usual and hard to find. Everett

will present a program on

“Companion Plants for Hydran-

geas.” and share his enthusiasm for wood-

land gardening and beautiful plants.

All are welcome!

March 18, 2010 Meeting Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Aiken Technical College Community Room Everette Jones,

“Companion Plants for Hydrangeas”

“Upcoming Events”

May 22, 7:30 AM—6:00 PM Bus trip to Plant Introductions, Inc.,

Watkinsville, GA, Lunch at The State

Botanical Gardens of Georgia. Meet at

the Augusta Golf & Gardens, One 11th

St., Augusta, GA Cost: TBA

May 29, 7:30 AM Pendleton King Plant Sale, Franke Pavil-

ion at Pendleton King Park

June 5, 7:30 AM

Society Plant Sale, Aiken Farmer‟s Market

June 24, 8:30 AM Hydrangea Conference

Savannah Rapids Pavilion

August 19, 7:00 PM General Meeting,

Location TBD

November 18, 7:00 PM General Meeting,

Location TBD

Volume 7, Issue 1

Spring—2006

CS

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Volume 7, Issue 1

Spring 2010

THANK YOU to all

members who furnished

refreshments at our No-

vember 2009 meeting.

Also, thank you Cathy

Kvartek for providing

plants as door prizes. If

you would like to volunteer

to bring refreshments to the

March 18 meeting, please

contact Faye Camley (803-

270-8757).

„Tardiva‟

„Altona‟

„Frilibet‟

„Mme Emile

„Lanarth White‟

„Limelight‟

„Lanarth Lavender‟

Shady Characters Nursery

Fellow Hydrangea Society members:

Welcome to a new year of gardening

and to another year of endless opportu-

nities for gardening with hydrangeas. I

am Chris Randall, and I am honored to

be president of the CSRA Hydrangea

Society for 2010. If you are a CSRA

Hydrangea Society member, thank you

for this opportunity.

If you are not currently a member, I

encourage you to join us. There is a lot

to learn within the Society, even for the

seasoned gardener or horticulturalist.

New varieties of hydrangeas, new ways

to design them into your landscape,

new techniques for plant care, and new

gardening products are being devel-

oped or discovered each year by the

green industry. And there are tried and

true varieties and methods to learn

about as well.

We will learn something in each of these

areas from three knowledgeable and

entertaining speakers at three general

meetings this year, March 18, August 19

and November 18. And this year we are

hosting the first of what we plan to be an

annual Hydrangea Conference. The

conference will be June 24. Three more

outstanding speakers will be featured at

the conference as well as a tour of some

beautiful gardens, refreshments and door

prizes.

And finally, we are very excited about a

bus trip we have planned to Dr. Michael

Dirr‟s Plant Introductions, Inc. in Watkins-

ville, GA. Dr. Dirr himself will tour us

and those of you who have been on a tour

or heard Dr. Dirr know what an inspiring

time that can be. For additional informa-

tion about our the bus tour, our meetings,

the conference, plant sales, and community

activities in which we are involved, please

check the newsletter.

There are simply no better friends in the

world than a fellow gardener. And while

we all go through ups and downs, one of

our friends, Bill Hayes, a Hydrangea Soci-

ety board member, is going through a par-

ticularly tough time right now. Please keep

Bill in your thoughts and prayers over the

next few weeks.

New gardening ideas and new gardening

friends are what we are about in the CSRA

Hydrangea Society. Did I mention we al-

ways have wonderful refreshments at our

meetings? And door prizes? I do hope you

will join in the fun.

Chris Randall

Page 2

President’s Message

“Growing Bigleaf Hydrangeas—Flower Color” Gary L. Wade, Extension Horticulturist, Department of Horticulture-UGA

Research has determined that the ac-

tual mechanism of color variation is

due to the presence or absence of alu-

minum compounds in the flowers. If

aluminum is present within the plant,

the color is blue. If it is present in

small quantities, the color is "in be-

tween," and if it is absent, the flowers

are pink.

Soil pH indirectly affects flower color

by affecting the availability of alumi-

num in the soil. When the soil is acid

(pH 5.5 or lower), aluminum is gener-

ally more available to the roots. When

the soil is neutral or alkaline (pH 7.0 or

higher), the availability of aluminum is

decreased and flowers are more pink.

To gradually change flower color from

pink to blue, broadcast 1/2 cup of wet-

table sulfur per 10 square feet and wa-

ter it in. To make the flowers pink,

broadcast one cup of dolomitic lime

per 10 square feet and water it into the

soil. It may take a year to see a notice-

able change in flower color from this

treatment.

Another quicker way to achieve a

change in flower color is through liquid

soil drenches. To make the flowers

blue, or perhaps more blue during the

growing season, dissolve 1 tablespoon

of alum (aluminum sulfate) in 1 gallon

of water and drench the soil around the

plant in March, April and May. To

make the flowers pink, dissolve 1 table-

spoon of hydrated lime in 1 gallon of

water and drench the soil around the

plant in March, April and May. Avoid

getting the solution on the leaves be-

cause foliar damage may result.

Gary L. Wade, Extension Horticultur-

ist, Department of Horticulture

For More Information

There are a number of excellent publi-

cations available on hydrangeas, both

online and from publishers A former

University of Georgia professor, Dr.

Michael Dirr, has written a book ti-

tled Hydrangeas for American Gar-

dens.

It is widely available in book-

stores and online. The U.S. Na-

tional Arboretum also has an ex-

cellent online publication on se-

lecting and growing hydrangeas.

See http://www.usna.usda.gov/

Gardens/faqs/hydrangeafaq2.html

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 1

A bus trip has been planned for May 22,

2010 to Plant Introductions, Inc., Wat-

kinsville, GA. We will meet at the Au-

gusta Golf & Gardens, One 11th St.,

Augusta, GA departing at 7:30 a.m.,

returning 6:00 p.m. Cost will be deter-

mined by number of participants and

will include lunch.

Plant Introductions, Inc. (PII) breeds,

evaluates and introduces new woody

(and herbaceous) plants for the nursery

industry. The principles, Mark Griffith,

President, Griffith Propagation Nursery,

Inc.; Jeff Beasley, President, Transplant

Nursery, Inc., and Mike Dirr, Professor

of Horticulture, retired, University of

Georgia, Athens, GA bring 75 years

experience to the Company. They un-

derstand the American and International

nursery business.

PII developed new facilities that encom-

pass breeding, propagation, production

and testing. PII established symbiotic

relationships with major nurseries, public

gardens and universities to test and evalu-

ate the plants from Maine to Florida to

the west coast. Their goal is to develop

superior garden plants that perform as

promised.

PII is currently breeding and evaluating

thousands of seedlings and selections in

the following genera: Abelia, Acer, Au-

cuba, Calycanthus, Cephalanthus, Cepha-

lotaxus, Distylium, Emmenopterys, Gar-

denia, HYDRANGEA, Lagerstroemia,

Lantana, Loropetalum, Maackia, Magno-

lia, Nandina, Pinckneya, Punica, Pitto-

sporum, Rhaphiolepis, Rhododendron,

Rosa, Spiraea, Thuja, Ulmus, Viburnum

… and others.

http://www.plantintroductions.com/

companyinformation.html

Botanical Name: Hydrangea macro-

phylla

Common Name: Endless Summer®

Twist-n-Shout™ Hydrangea

“We believe the profitable and suc-

cessful future resides in a palette of

colorful, ever-blooming, culturally

adaptable, pest-resistant shrubs and

trees.”

Page3

“Plant Introductions, Inc.”

Watkinsville, GA

Hydrangea macrophylla „Blushing Bride‟ ®

HYDRANGEA 'ENDLESS SUMMER

'BLUSHING BRIDE'

Blushing Bride® Dark, glossy green foliage makes

the perfect canvas for the lovely, repeat, white,

mophead blooms that measure up to 6 inches across.

As the blooms mature, they turn a lovely blush pink

or blue depending upon the soil acidity. Easy to grow

and adapts to most conditions. A wonderful addition

to any garden!

Light Requirement: Partial Sun to Shade

Height: 3 to 5 feet

Spread: 3 to 5 feet

Flower: White, tinged with pink. Summer.

Foliage: Green

Form: Mounding

Membership: A renewal membership form is included in this newsletter. RENEW YOUR MEM-

BERSHIP TODAY. Save yourself postage! Fill out your membership form and turn in to the Member-

ship Chairman, Pam Glogowski, at the March 18 meeting.

Blushing Bride

Directors Irv Magin

Bill Hayes

Kay Mills

Rick Rasmussen

Gloria Wade

Kay Bowman

CSRA

Hydrangea

Society

Valerie Martin, Editor

CSRA Hydrangea Society

P. O. Box 15601

Augusta, GA 30919-1601 Officers

Chris Randall, President

Jacque Rees, Vice President

Pam Glogowski, Treasurer

Valerie Martin, Secretary

The CSRA Hydrangea Society was organized on October 3, 2003. Meetings are held

on the third Thursday of March, May, August and November.

The Objectives of the Society are:

To promote the growing of hydrangeas;

To conduct programs that will encourage and assist its members in the growing of

hydrangeas;

To emphasize the pleasure and benefits to be derived from growing hydrangeas.

"There is hope if people will begin to awaken

that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt

knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet.”

Brooke Medicine Eagle