Growing hydrangea that keeps on giving

When looking to beautify a garden, people tend to opt for a new flower or a combination of many interesting plants. While on the hunt for flowers to plant, you might be lucky to find rare, but expensive ones whose foliage grows massively bigger thriving in splendid pots or looking lacy in your garden.

Lawrence Ngugi, a florist and landscaper, came across the long-lasting floral effect hydrangea in 2014 while visiting a flower farm in Limuru.

Since then, he has embarked on commercial cultivation of the special flower, which he uses in adding beauty to clients’ gardens. Mr Ngugi, and his partner Kelvin Mbugua, now live off the hydrangea flower, running Orgem Flora company.

Various colours

Hydrangea’s beauty is in its dense green foliage and its sprouts, which come out in various colours. The plant grows in two forms—as a shrub or a climbing vine.

The most common found hydrangeas in Kenya are Mophead and the Lacecap which grow as shrubs and the climbing hydrangea respectively. Mr Ngugi said that flower exporters have a bias towards the mophead hydrangea “and that is why they are easily available in Kenya”.

Another reason why the flower is popular in the country is that it is propagated through cuttings, hence cheaper to cultivate. As a flower in the garden, he said that the mophead and lacecap creates a beautiful backdrop at a home garden. The lacy flower looks superb when planted near a shrub border.

“Mophead produces ball-like, elegant flowers and you cannot miss their beauty. Lacecap hydrangeas have clusters of blooms surrounded by lace-like bigger blooms and are also garden favourites,” he said.

Climbing hydrangeas

The climbing hydrangeas, as the name suggests, are best suited for walls. The flower’s roots grows from the stem thus enabling it to cling on walls.

“They create a green cover for your wall. The elegant green vegetation that mainly produces white flowers creates a beautiful look for the garden,” he said.

The climbing hydrangea, however, requires a lot of attention because it takes long to reach maturity, and home owners who desire to plant the flower ought to know that its growth and beauty is entirely dependent on the care it receives.

This type of flower grows best in a place where it receives the cool morning sun and where a shade presents during the day, blocking it from the direct scorching afternoon sun. The flower also flourishes well in places where the soil is moist and well-drained, meaning that they need to be constantly watered.

“Make sure they are regularly watered and that you have loose loamy soils because the plant does not grow well in clay soils,” said Mr Ngugi.

The flower also grows generously in higher altitudes, as its vertical growth becomes stunted in low altitudes, he said. Getting the best out of the flower also involves planning your garden creatively so that the flower naturally shows its beauty.

Mr Ngugi advises that the best way to plant the flower is in clusters, enabling it to have a dense vegetation for aesthetics.

Cost per pot

One potted flower goes for between Sh500 to Sh2,000. The flower sprouts in various colours, from pink, blue and purple, while some have a blend of all the colours.

The trick of getting the hydrangea in your garden to bloom is having a wide range of pHs in the garden soil. You does not require the help of a professional to test the pH of the soil as testing kits are readily available in shops.

But if in doubt, it is always advisable to send the soil sample to a laboratory for detailed analysis.

“A wide range of pH in your soil helps because you will then have a range of colours when the flower blooms. A single plant produces up to six individual blooms,” he said.

This means that the sprouts of the plant will have different colours, creating a beautiful shrub in the garden.
“To get more acidic soils, add aluminium sulphate and for alkaline soils, add a bit of lime. You can add these to the bases of individual plants for the best effects,” he said.

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