a friend of mine has nice red ones but when she bought some blue ones they went white is there any special soil or preparation she can buy to turn them blue once more?

I bought a blue one last year and the special soil for it and this year it has flowered pink.  I have heard rusty nails buried by the roots helps, but I haven't got any to try.  So any other tips would be most welcome here too.

My Dad is quite the gardener, and I've picked up a few things as I've gone along.

I think it's iron that keeps blue hydrangeas blue. The garden centre will have something in a packet I bet.

Dawn R.

There was a tip on a gardening show to put metal kitchen scrubbers in the soil around plants that need iron, but I didn't think they would rust as they are SSteel, maybe they do in the earth though?

Alkaline soil means hydrangeas are Pink,
Acid soil means hydrangeas are Blue :) :)
Good way of finding out your soil type without using kit!!!
So if you want Blue hydrangeas and have alkaline soil, you need to treat them as you would Rhodedenrons, Azaleas etc. Plant them IN TUBS in ericasious compost and only water with rain water. If you have to water them with tap water you use a special azalea etc feed of sequescence of iron!!!!
As for whites, I presume it is in neutral soil but I am not 100% sure, I just know I have never seen white hydrangeas in gardens!!! LOL
HTH
Lea :)

Thanks Lea.  I put it in a pot with an ericasious compost, but admit to watering it from the tap.  It sounds like that is where I went wrong.

thats the one!!!!!
If you live in an alkaline area than the water that comes out of the tap is likely to be alkaline,
So water it from a water butt or feed it with what I said.
I love blue hydrangeas but not got a hope in he!! of having any as it is all lime around here and I have not the dedication after I get home to faff about :)
Lea :)

Epsom salts.   Turns them from one colour to the other but not sure what way around.  Very old tried & tested gardening thingymebob.

Pink to Blue ;)
Just havnt a clue where to get them from LOL
Lea :)

Boots or any pharmacy.

We used Epsom salts in some of our photo processors and used to buy 6 boxes at a time from Boots - the salesperson must have thought I was really ill :)

Is Hydrangea grandiflora not white?  Or am I getting my species mixed up but you do get white hydrangeas...be back in a tick when I find some!   :D

Edited to add : Yep I was right Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora is white.

lol that link is interesting Christine - somebody call the bandwidth police :D

:D

Ooooooooooh naughty that didn't happen earlier.  

Anyway......you are all big girls to go off and find pretty flower photos yourself!  ;)

I rather like those as you don't have that half and half look about them when the blue doesn't come right.

You can buy Sequestered Iron to water into the soil for ericacious plants :)  I use it and we have water with a pH of 6.5 - 6.8 :) :)