13 Best Blue Hydrangea Varieties For Home Gardens

Are you also a lover of Blue Hydrangeas and want to make your garden beautiful? This universe has gifted us with a wide variety of Hydrangea. So in this article, I have discussed the 13 best blue hydrangea varieties you can plant in a home garden.

Blue is one of the best colors, enhancing the garden’s overall look. So planting a blue hydrangea in your garden is the best thought. You can easily pair blue with any other color; it feels relaxing and soothing too.

If you are looking for annual blue flowers, then blue Hydrangea is the best choice.

I have briefly discussed varieties of blue hydrangea flowers, but please note that some varieties can be good only in full exposure to sunlight, and some perform well in half shade. 

Blue Hydrangea Varieties

Most of the blue hydrangeas are bigleaf, but there are some Hydrangea serrata, you shouldn’t miss.

The bigleaf hydrangeas are mostly medium size and fit well as a border of the garden. Their large, rounded leaves are mesmerizing when combined with larger flowers. It produces flowers that are mophead and lace cap in shape. 

Hydrangea serrata is a perennial shrub. It seems smaller than bigleaf hydrangeas. Commonly it is known as mountain hydrangea and tea of heaven. It produces flowers with lace-cap shapes which are very delicate.

Due to its attractive look, foliage, and size, it is added to perennial gardens. 

Hydrangea Macrophylla Species

Hydrangea Macrophylla is commonly known as bigleaf Hydrangea. Their foliages are longer than any other hydrangea varieties and are native to Japan and Korea. 

They are also captivating due to their large and glossy leaves. 

Many gardeners choose it because of its beautiful flowers, leaves, and easy maintenance. It loves to grow in partial shade and well-drained soil. 

Big Daddy

It is one of the species of hydrangea macrophylla, which is referred to as mophead hydrangeas. It blooms sky blue and reaches up to 14 inches.

It prefers to grow in partial sunlight and moist, well-drained soil and blooms from mid-summer to early fall. Its green and glossy leaves look more attractive after a frost.

It grows up to a maximum height of 6 feet. It is a cold and hot-tolerant plant. Thus it becomes the first choice of gardeners. It can also easily bloom in old and new woods. 

Endless Summer Hydrangeas

It is one of the most beautiful varieties of Hydrangea and is commonly known for producing endless blooms during the summers and is called true reblooming Hydrangea.

Endless summer also blooms in old and new woods like “big daddy.” It prefers to grow in partial sun, especially in the afternoon and requires moist and well-drained soil.

The plant is covered with blue mophead blooms, and it gets more decorated because of its glossy green foliage.

This unique plant grows up to a height of 3 -5 feet (0.9 – 1.5 meters). It is an economical shrub that can be grown in containers and or in a grouping, adding colors and beauty to your garden. 

Endless Summer Twist and Shout

It produces flowers in lace cap shapes and blooms in periwinkle to dark pink, depending on the pH level of your soil. 

It has a red shade stem which adds extra glory to your garden. It is hardy in zones 4-9 and grows to 3-5 feet tall. The plant prefers to grow in partial sun, especially in the afternoon, and needs well-drained, moist soil.

Générale Vicomtesse De Vibraye

Générale Vicomtesse De Vibraye is a French stunner and a large hydrangea with a maximum height of 6 feet and a width of 8 feet.

It blooms in the shade of pale blue with huge flower heads. It has a wavy edge which makes the plant more attractive.

It loves to grow in the morning sunlight and afternoon shade and can be grown in different types of soils.

If blue flowers are dried, they turn their shade to blue-green, giving them a unique feature. Its blooming time is early summer to mid-fall. It is hardy in the zones from 6-9. 

Let’s Dance Rhythmic Blue

Rhythmic Blue is straightforward to grow, and even pruning is not needed for this plant. It produces deep blue flowers in mophead style, making it unique in features.

One of its special features is that it can maintain its dark blue shade even in high-pH soil, which is non-acidic and thus preferred by gardens with neutral or high-pH soil.

It blooms in mid-summer to early fall. It prefers to grow in the partial sun of the afternoon and requires well-drained, moist soil. 

It is also a reblooming hydrangea-like endless summer that blooms on new and old woods. It grows to a maximum height of 4 feet and can be added to your perennial garden. This shrub is cold-resistant and hardy from zone 5-9. 

Mathilda Gutges

Mathilda Gutges is an amazing variety of Hydrangea which produces flowers in a rich blue shade with light blue shade in the center of the flowers, due to which the flowers look really amazing and enough to mesmerize you and decorate your garden.

It blooms in early summer to the middle of the fall.

It has an average height of 3-6 feet and prefers to grow in partial sun. The right time for pruning the plant is just after the end of the blooming season as it blooms on wood. It’s hardy from zones 5-9. 

Nantucket Blue

Nantucket Blue is classic and very popular on the east coast of the United States.

It is a reblooming hydrangea and blooms from early summer till the beginning of the frost. Its maximum height is 6 feet, and preferred as a border plant.

It is hardy in the zones from 5-9. You can plant it in both full and partial sunlight. The ideal sun timing for its smooth growth is 6 hours of daily sunlight. 

Pruning is not required as it grows at a medium pace. 

Nikko Blue

It is a deciduous shrub that blooms with blue flowers and grows to a height of 4-6 feet. It prefers to grow in partial sunlight and needs moist, well-drained soil.

It blooms in the early summers and mostly preferred to be planted on the garden’s border along a wall or fence. Be very cautious about pruning as it blooms on old wood. 

Generally, the plants which bloom on old wood do not require pruning. But if you want to prune it to give it a good shape and size, then the ideal time to prune is just after the end of its blooming season, i.e., in August and September. Do not prune later than this, as the plants will not be able to bloom in the next season. 

PennyMac

Most gardeners prefer to grow PennyMac as its maintenance requires much less effort. It grows 6 feet high, spreads up to 4-6 feet, and grows rapidly. It blooms giant blue mophead flowers in the summer. It looks gorgeous also because of its glossy green leaves, which turn red or burgundy in the fall.

Avoid pruning this plant. If the plant has some winter damage, you should prune it, and that too very minimum. It can also tolerate full exposure to the sun if the soil is moist enough.

Most gardeners opt to grow it as it is weather tolerant, needs low maintenance, and produces showy flowers. It is planted as borders, hedges, and as a specimen plant.

Early Blue

If you are searching for container hydrangea plants then Early Blue is the right option as it grows smaller. This plant is very easy to manage and breed and comparatively blooms for a longer period of time.

The shade of its bloom is blue and pink, and it blooms in the early summer. It is preferred to be planted as the border of the garden. And it is hardy from zones 5-9.

Hydrangea Serrata

It is a flowering shrub species native to Japan, Korea, and china. It grows very short and only up to 2 feet.

Thus it is a great option for those who want to grow small hydrangeas. It is resistant to cold climates. It blooms blue and gives your garden a very different and beautiful garden. 

Blue Billow

It produces sky-blue flowers in lace-cap shapes, which are very delicate. The plants look so amazing, especially after blooming. It blooms only from the beginning to late summer. It has dark green, glossy, pointy, and narrow leaves.

The shade of foliage turns burgundy during the fall. It grows 4 feet high and 10 feet wide. It prefers to grow in partial sunlight and needs well-drained, moist soil.

It is a cold-resistant plant and hardy in zones from 5-9. But it blooms more consistently in warmer climates. 

Bluebird

Bluebird is a unique hydrangea, and light blue florets surround its fertile flowers in rich blue shades and give it an immense look with its double shades. Its maximum height and width are 4 feet.

The flowers pair well with their dark green leaves, and their color changes to red in the fall. It blooms during summer and is used as a border and accent plant. It loves to grow in partial sunlight and is hardy in zones 6-9.

LA Dreamin Hydrangea

La Dreamin Hydrangea loves to grow in full exposure to sunlight. Thay have pink blooms to bright blue shades in the same bush. But if you want blue blooms, you need to maintain soil acidity. Soil with low pH is suitable for blue blooms. 

It is a favorite of many gardeners because it is cold and heat tolerant. It grows up to 5 feet high and 6 feet wide. It can bloom in both old and new woods. Thus pruning can be done to control its height. 

Color Changing

Bigleaf hydrangeas or Hydrangea Serrata bloom into many shades, which are influenced by the soil’s pH and aluminum levels. For blue-shade flowers, more acidic soil is needed, and a low pH level of soil ranging between 5.2 – 5.5 is favorable, and in such conditions, more aluminum is absorbed.

Instead of blue flowers, if your plant is blooming pink, add aluminum sulfate to the soil to get blue blooms. But it should be within the limit to avoid any complications in the future.

Prepare a mixture by adding one tablespoon of aluminum sulfate to one gallon of water and only apply the solution to the plant but water the plant before this application if the plant is already dry.

The process should be done twice a year, once in the month of April and again in the month of May.

How To Care for Blue Hydrangeas?

You can change the shade of Hydrangea to many colors, and it can be pink, purple, or sky blue. For the change of shades, the soil’s pH level or its acidity level plays an important role.

You can turn the shade from pink flowers to blue or vice versa by controlling the pH.

Use a soil test kit to measure the pH level and acidity of the soil to get your favorite blue color blooms in your garden. You can follow the below tips to get your specific and favorite shade.

Choose the Right Kind of Hydrangea

The Bigleaf Hydrangea can change the color of its bloom. You can also go for “Anabelle,” which blooms in white or cream color and is enough to beautify your garden.

If you are very specific about blue Hydrangea, choose the variety that blooms blue. 

Choose Blue Varieties

Choose the varieties like Nikko Blue, Endless Summer Hydrangea, penny mac, Blauer Prinz, and Endless Summer Twist -n- Shout.

You can identify the blue color hydrangea with the tag on the plant if the plants have not bloomed in the nursery. 

Measure the Soil pH

Not to worry, measuring the soil pH is not a complex process. The acidity or alkalinity of the soil can be known by the level of pH in the soil, and the range of pH of the soil is from 0-14, and 7 is neutral.

Less than 7 pH level specifies the soil’s acidity, and more than 7 specifies its alkalinity. You should use the Soil test Kit to measure the soil’s pH level for accurate results. 

Pick the Flower Hue You Want

The ideal pH level of soil for blue Hydrangea is from 5.2 to 5.5. Neutral to alkaline soil with a pH level of 6.5 and more is good for planting pink flowers.

To enjoy purple flowers or a mixture of blue and pink flowers, you need to maintain the soil pH from 5.5 to 6.5. Now do a soil test to ensure your next step. 

Adjust the Soil pH

Most of the garners have neutral soil, and if they want to grow blue Hydrangea, they need to maintain the ideal pH level of the soil and acidify the soil to get blue hydrangeas.

You can do it by adding sulfur, aluminum sulfate, and other acidic soil to lower the pH of your soil. You can lower the pH of the soil by using Organic Fertilizers.

You can also get the soil that can best fit for the cultivation of hydrangeas.

Using soil sulfur and garden lime can bring the soil pH level, and you can get your favorite color to bloom in your garden. The use of a pelleted mixture is highly recommended while planting the Hydrangea. 

Continue to Acidify the pH for Blue Blooms

The color of the blooms also depends on the pH of the soil. You need to plant the Hydrangea in acidic soil and maintain its pH from 5.2 to 5.5 blue Hydrangea.

The top layer of the soil should be acidified around the root area, and this process should be performed, especially in early spring. 

If you have already planted in neutral or alkaline soil, it won’t support the plant to bloom blue flowers, and if it has already bloomed pink, then you would be able to get blue ones in the next season only. 

What is the dark blue Hydrangea called?

Dark Blue Hydrangea is often called “Nikko Blue Hydrangea” and are known as the bluest hydrangea. It is a popularly cultivated species of hydrangea macrophylla and continuously blooms for two months from the beginning of summer. It has glossy, medium green, and large leaves, giving it a gorgeous look. 

It grows to a height of 4-6 feet and prefers to grow in partial sun in well-drained, moist soil. It blooms blue in acidic soil and pink in alkaline soil. 

Final Thoughts

You can choose any of the varieties discussed in this article according to your ease and decorate your garden like never before. Choose the varieties according to your local climatic conditions and understand the need for varieties planted and cared for it, and the plant will reward you with many blue blooms. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What do blue hydrangea flowers mean?

Sometimes it becomes really difficult to apologize in the right way when you make a mistake. In such cases, blue hydrangeas help a lot. You can present blue hydrangeas and seek forgiveness. It is the symbol of regret, guilt, and remorse.

Can You use vinegar to turn your hydrangeas blue?

Using vinegar in the soil may turn the shade of bloom into blue, but it could be for a very short span of time. And it also takes longer than usual to turn the shade into the blue.

Vinegar also works as an insect repellant. So there are high chances of repelling the beneficial insects too. Thus, I would never recommend using vinegar to change the shade of hydrangeas in your garden. 

Will blue hydrangeas come back after the winter?

All hydrangeas like Blue, White, or Pink are resistant to winter if they are properly cared for. But potted hydrangeas, which are replanted, may not survive in the winters.

You need to choose the variety which is suitable for your local climate. The hydrangeas need extra care and protection in winter and can bloom gorgeously.