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| I love the 'Bluebird' lacecap flower but when mine open they are a pink mauve color (photo from Sooner Plant Farm) |
It has dark rosy blue lacecap flowers ringed in pale blue. The flowers open in June, then in fall they turn upside down showing their pink underside, changing the look of the shrub to a pink flowering one.
But I'm pretty disappointed with this hydrangea.
'Bluebird' seems more vulnerable to frosts than advertised and won't bloom at all after a late frost. I have trouble getting any of the flowers to look as dark blue as I have seen in other plants, and the deer eat any blooms that do come out.
In summer along the driveway this hydrangea gets a lot of sun and it wilts in hot dry weather. It needs a lot of supplemental water.
I guess it anchors the end of this strip, and it is mid-sized round leafy blob compared to the taller plants and the groundcover sumacs. But it does nothing for me.
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| 7/10/14 |
Fall color is a muddy wine purple. I'm really not a fan of this.
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| 10/23/13 Remind me NOT to plant alyssum in a ring around this shrub -- looks really dumb |
I planted 'Preziosa' next to the birdbath at the patio wall, after moving it many times until it wound up there. It is a mophead, but a smaller sized one, to about 3 or 4 feet. It's varyingly listed as a serrata or as a macrophylla or as a hybrid between the two.
The flowers are pink, but mature to deep crimson. Supposed to be very cold hardy, but I've read it can be susceptible to powdery mildew.
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| 10/14/14 - 'Preziosa' by the patio wall |
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| 8/14/15 |
By September the flowers turn wine red. The plant has a nice rounded form. It may get too big very soon for the spot next to the patio.
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| 9/19/15 |
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| A lovely mature 'Preziosa' at Whiteflower Farm on 10/13/13 |
