Hydrangea, Nikko Blue Hydrangea macrophylla 'Nikko Blue' Height: 4 feet Spread: 5 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 5b Other Names: French Hydrangea, Bigleaf Hydrangea Description: This is one of the showiest and most popular of all summer-blooming shrubs with enormous deep blue globe-shaped flowers, requires highly acidic soils to maintain blue color; blooms on old wood so protecting flower buds in winter may be necessary Ornamental Features Hydrangea, Nikko Blue features bold balls of blue flowers at the ends of the branches from mid summer to early fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. It has forest green deciduous foliage. The glossy pointy leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color. Landscape Attributes Hydrangea, Nikko Blue is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage. This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics. Hydrangea, Nikko Blue is recommended for the following landscape applications; Planting & Growing Hydrangea, Nikko Blue will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years. This shrub does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant should be periodically fertilized throughout the active growing season with a specially-formulated acidic fertilizer. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in both summer and winter to conserve soil moisture and protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. Special Attributes Grows best in Eastern Washington and Oregon Desert climate, when shaded from 11 am to 7 pm.
