THE QUEEN OF ADELAIDE 
Images of stock as of 21st October.

Overview of The Queen of Adelaide

This is our favourite range of Hydrangea.
The Queen of Adelaide
is perfectly suited to our South Australian conditions.
It’s a sturdy and more robust form of Hydrangea macrophylla.
Compact in habit with very strong multi stems that hold the huge, in size and number, of vivid crowns of blooms.

You’ll purchase your plant in flower, your options are many, enjoy it for a short time indoors or pot it into another container, you may wish to combine with some other compatible plants. Or plant your Hydrangea directly into the garden bed.

The Queen of Adelaide Hydrangea requires a part shade position, avoid hot burning sun, drying winds and crusty sandy soils. Composted, enriched and hydrated soil or a potting mix with water crystals or similar, morning sun and lots of water, hydrangeas, are thirsty creatures.

We’ve done all the hard work for you, the plant is now going to continue to flower for weeks and weeks, when it’s finished you simply snip off the flower heads and keep up the attention to the plant.
The plant will flush out some new growth if you remove the heads early. You may wish to prune when the plant is asleep and dormant over the winter. Either option is fine.

In the mid to early spring you’ll see you plant beginning to shoot and flush with leaves. You may wish to up pot the plant to a bigger pot at this time.
Feeding is now crucial! A prill style, control release fertiliser is fine, use a 8 - 9 month, all purpose is perfect for plants in containers.
Plants in the garden beds may enjoy an organic all purpose fertiliser in the early spring which is preferable to the prill style of fertiliser which is designed for pots and containers.

We recommend you give your Queen of Adelaide, a tonic of seaweed, as the weather warms and the flower buds are forming. A tonic feed every two to three weeks is very beneficial.

KEEPING THE BLUE IN THE BAROSSA.
Our soils in SA are generally on the alkaline side - Limey - you’ll find that your blue hydrangeas slowly begin to turn pink. If you’d like to keep them blue you need to move your soil PH level to an acid level.
A good homemade compost will assist with this.
You can also change the PH with a dose of Aluminium sulphate, commonly purchased as Bluing Tonic.

We do recommend that you get your soil PH level tested, this is an easy step to do at home with an inexpensive kit. Many lovely Garden Centres offer this service and can advise you on blue tonics.

You’ll find The Queen of Adelaide in Garden Centres from late Spring - She’s so glorious and regal, when she’s in season, in magnificent flower, she sells out quickly, please don’t miss out.