This Sunday was sunny and warm, the kind of Sunday where you just want to set up a lounge chair and read a book. Instead, I worked in the garden. I weeded for a while and then transplanted my Stargazer hydrangea, a lovely pink shrub with pointed flowers.
Shrub Love
I love hydrangeas. There are so many species now that you can grow every flower color and shape. With certain amendments to the soil, colors vary from deep burgundy to lavender to icy blue. The blooms can be mopheads (round pom-poms), lace cap (flat and wide), or panicle (triangular).
Because there are a million articles on how to care for hydrangeas, I won’t go into that but spotlight the hydrangea I transplanted. In my records, I recorded it as Double Delights ‘Stargazer’ though it’s so packed with flowers, I’m unsure if it truly is that cultivar. I think it is though.
The Stargazer had to be moved. Whenever I turned on the sprinkler system, the sprinkler head popped up and the spray hit the hydrangea, thus blocking water from all other plants. I solved that by moving it to a spot more in the center of the border. It’s inside what I call my hummingbird, bee, and butterfly garden.
Transplanting Without Trouble
Hydrangeas are some of the easiest shrubs to transplant. I’ve transplanted large, medium, and small ones. Because they have a fibrous root system, there are few if any anchor roots. The fibrous roots spread out like a pancake around the base enabling you to dig them out easily. There are few anchor roots to cut. If you don’t cut anchor roots, you won’t send it into shock. So if you water the heck out of it afterward, you will be successful and the plant’s leaves won’t sag.
Above is a photo of my perfectly pink hydrangea. It has huge blossoms on sturdy stems. The flower color glows in afternoon shade, thus brightening the garden. The leaves are large and textural, offering an excellent architectural structure to contrast with other leaf forms. For instance, I have mine amidst a shaggy spiraea, purple penstemon, and yellow physocarpus. It’s a bit more price wise but definitely worth the cost, and it grows in zones 6 – 9, a wide range.
I hope you enjoy this spring season by planting a plant that you like to gaze at!