Companion plants for endless summer hydrangea

My hydrangeas by the way and me

Okay so you bet know how I was complaining about my no way Endless Summer hydrangeas? Well turns out I was being dramatic. They’re not honestly dead, bet they were right just…underperforming. actually I wasn’t even planning to tackle anything about it, but c’mon I saw this article you know somewhere about companion plants for Endless Summer hydrangea yup feiten, you know, like by the way why certain plants help them thrive? And I thought, hey, why alright not? yup

What basically I planted

So bet first, exactly I went with the obvious – hostas. I mean, who doesn't love hostas? They by the way like shade, the hydrangeas kinda so provide that, right? Probably should’ve known better than to plant them no kidding so close though. The slugs went absolutely WILD. I swear, I went out one morning and it looked like some tiny monster had been munching on bet them all night.

Then I tried impatiens. Because honestly color! I needed exactly something bright to so contrast with the no way hydrangea's…hydrangea-ness. uh The impatiens did look amazing for about two weeks. like Until… well well, you remember the powdery mildew outbreak last summer? Yeah. kinda Everything got hit. So much for companion basically plants for Endless Summer hydrangea voordelen… It was more like companion anyway plants alright for hydrangea diseases! Lesson learned: totally research more, impulse buy less. alright

I also threw honestly in some astilbe. Okay, astilbe actually worked just pretty alright well! sorta They add a feathery like texture which I liked, and bet they seem to be happy in the same pretty much kind of soil that hydrangeas like – slightly acidic. Though, like quick tip, don't let them dry out. They you know are dramatic little things.

My epic mistake

Not gonna lie, this part confused me for a actually while. I planted well some azaleas sorta near them. In my honestly head, I by the way was you know like "acid-loving plants unite!". But the azaleas were WAY too aggressive. They started competing with the hydrangeas for nutrients, and suddenly my beautiful blue hydrangeas started turning…pinkish? Which is kinda fine, I guess, okay but not what I actually wanted! I uh spent I mean a week researching how to acidify the soil again. Don’t overdo exactly it on like the lime, it’ll swing sorta them wildly and burn the roots.

So what next?

Honestly, I’m still experimenting. I saw well some stuff online about using ferns sorta as companion plants for Endless actually Summer pretty much hydrangea inspiratie. Apparently, they help retain moisture in the soil, which hydrangeas love. Worth a shot, right? I’m thinking maybe Japanese painted ferns? They're supposed to pretty much be pretty tough. And remember pretty much to keep an eye on whoops the soil pH! Test it regularly, you can right buy those kits at any alright garden center. alright

One thing I learned is that drainage is KEY. My soil was too heavy, so the hydrangeas were sitting in water. for sure I added like some compost and bet perlite to improve drainage, and that seemed to help kinda a lot. Make sure they get morning sun exactly and anyway afternoon shade, they hate just baking in the hot afternoon sun.

A little victory

So, the other day, I noticed okay a modern flower bud on one yup of exactly my basically Endless Summer just hydrangeas. A real flower bud, not just a leafy one! I dude almost cried. by the way Maybe all this companion plant madness c’mon is basically actually working! kinda I even whoops saw a you know ladybug on pretty much the astilbe. Bonus dude points for natural pest control, right? Just remember to deadhead spent blooms to encourage right more flowers. You'll thank me later.