{"id":5348,"date":"2026-06-02T08:39:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T03:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/?p=5348"},"modified":"2026-06-02T08:39:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T03:09:29","slug":"colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/","title":{"rendered":"Colour of Hydrangea Flower and Soil pH"},"content":{"rendered":"<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XcQ6LcfbiDQ?si=Q5y_PbKtcmdQ1m0S\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For certain types of hydrangeas\u2014specifically Bigleaf (<em>Hydrangea macrophylla<\/em>) and Mountain (<em>Hydrangea serrata<\/em>)\u2014the color of their blooms acts like a living, growing pH strip for your soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the pH itself isn&#8217;t what directly dyes the petals; it&#8217;s actually all about <strong>aluminum<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Aluminum Connection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hydrangeas need aluminum to produce blue pigment. While aluminum is naturally present in most garden soils, its <em>availability<\/em> to the plant&#8217;s root system changes entirely depending on the soil&#8217;s acidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Acidic Soil (pH 5.5 and lower):<\/strong> At lower pH levels, aluminum becomes highly soluble. The hydrangea easily absorbs it, resulting in <strong>blue<\/strong> flowers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Neutral to Alkaline Soil (pH 6.5 and higher):<\/strong> As the soil becomes more alkaline, the aluminum gets locked up in the soil chemistry. Even if the aluminum is there, the plant can&#8217;t take it up, resulting in <strong>pink<\/strong> or red flowers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Middle Ground (pH 5.5 to 6.5):<\/strong> In this transitional zone, you&#8217;ll generally see purple flowers. Often, you&#8217;ll even see a single bush sporting a mix of blue, purple, and pink blooms simultaneously as the root system navigates different pockets of soil.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The White Hydrangea Exception:<\/strong> If you have a white variety (like an &#8216;Annabelle&#8217; or an Oakleaf hydrangea), their color is strictly dictated by genetics, not soil chemistry. No amount of soil tweaking will turn a white hydrangea blue or pink.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For certain types of hydrangeas\u2014specifically Bigleaf (Hydrangea macrophylla) and Mountain (Hydrangea serrata)\u2014the color of their blooms acts like a living, growing pH strip for your soil. However, the pH itself isn&#8217;t what directly dyes the petals; it&#8217;s actually all about aluminum. The Aluminum Connection Hydrangeas need aluminum to produce blue pigment. While aluminum is naturally [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vegetables-at-home"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Colour of Hydrangea Flower and Soil pH - Johnson&#039;s Horticulture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colour of Hydrangea Flower and Soil pH - Johnson&#039;s Horticulture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For certain types of hydrangeas\u2014specifically Bigleaf (Hydrangea macrophylla) and Mountain (Hydrangea serrata)\u2014the color of their blooms acts like a living, growing pH strip for your soil. However, the pH itself isn&#8217;t what directly dyes the petals; it&#8217;s actually all about aluminum. The Aluminum Connection Hydrangeas need aluminum to produce blue pigment. While aluminum is naturally [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Johnson&#039;s Horticulture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T03:09:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T03:09:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Colour-of-Hydrangea-Flower-and-Soil-pH.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1203\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Johnson Francis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Johnson Francis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Johnson Francis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/#\/schema\/person\/c3636df643ae569b05229e17c67a85f1\"},\"headline\":\"Colour of Hydrangea Flower and Soil pH\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T03:09:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-02T03:09:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/\"},\"wordCount\":232,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/#\/schema\/person\/c3636df643ae569b05229e17c67a85f1\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Colour-of-Hydrangea-Flower-and-Soil-pH.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Vegetables at home\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/johnsonfrancis.org\/horticulture\/colour-of-hydrangea-flower-and-soil-ph\/\",\"name\":\"Colour of Hydrangea Flower and Soil pH - 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