Zorro

This bushy upright lacecap hydrangea with dark purple-black stems is a winner in my book. Toothed dark green leaves and masses of long-flowering dark blue-purple flowers will make this an excellent present for my daughter to help her build up her small garden.

Mophead and lace-cap hydrangeas are most well-known for their ability to change colour in different soils. It depends on whether the soil's acid or alkaline which affects aluminium availability. Blue or pink flowers tend to be blue in acid soil where lots of aluminium is available, mauve in acid to neutral soil, and pink in alkaline soil. I've also read that they should be watered with rainwater (if in a pot) to keep them blue. I'm looking forward to watching it grow!

It has so many sculptural features that one picture did not seem to do justice to it - hence this composite. I checked out the Zorro name, as I only had a somewhat hazy notion of the masked character from fiction given to this hydrangea. Set in 19th century Spanish California, a young nobleman lives a double life - one moment a harmless intellectual, and the next a freedom fighter called El Zorro ('the Fox'). Now you know!