Today, I bought a blue hydrangea bush. The instructions simply say to keep the blooms blue, make the soil acidic (alkaline for pink). When do I do this, how often and with what?

In an earlier post I asked about moving clematis plants. Based on the wise replies, I moved them this spring and both seem fine and are growing & blooming. Can anyone suggest a ferilizer or other product to add to the surrounding soil to make them really take off?

Also, I want to transplant some daffodil bulbs. Can I do it now, or would it be best to wait until Fall?

Thanks for all your helpful info! You guys (and gals) rock!

Oh I LOVE hydrangeas! OK, here is some info for you on maintaining the blue ones.

To encourage blue hydrangea flowers, grow the plant in soil that has a pH of 5.2-5.5. If your soil is more alkaline than this, you can lower the pH by watering around the plant with aluminum sulfate (2 Tbsp per gallon of water), taking care to ensure the soil is moist before application. Or, use pH Down Soil Acidifier at the rate specified on the package. Soil pH can also be lowered (more gradually) by applying an acidic organic mulch, such as pine needles or pine bark.

These instructions in the blue box will tell you how to adjust the color of your hydrangeas by manipulating the soil's pH level.

As for when to transplant your daffodils, ideally they should be done in the early spring or fall (specifically November). For best results you should wait about 8 weeks after the blooms have faded before moving your daffodils.

And for you Clematis, use a low nitrogen fertilizer because too much nitrogen will cause more vine to grow than flowers to bloom. The American Clematis Society endorses Gro-Power Fertilizer because it is an organic soil conditioner as well as a fertilizer.

Hope some of this info has been helpful to you. Always enjoy talking to someone who enjoys plants as much as I do.

Thanks, Georgia, for all your helpful information!

Copper for blue flowers on hydrangeas. Used to be you would throw pennies into the hole, but now pennies are made of zinc so you don't get the copper.

But there is copper fittings in your plumbing department at any hardware store. Throw one or two of those in the hole if you want blue flowers.

Compost is the one and only fertilizer I use. Compost is organic material which has rotted down into a nutrient rich material - usually very dark brown to black. Now days you can buy compost in bags.

I usually mix compost in new holes for shrubbery and trees, for seed plantins I mix it in the top soil before sowing, after planting I make compost tea which is throwing a shovelful or two of compost in a 5 gallon bucket of water, let sit over night and water with the brown water - that and I lay on about 1/2 to 1 inch of compost on the surface and let watering/rain carry the good stuff to the roots.