John, I've heard that there are some tricks to get hydrangea (hortensia) that blue as yours are. I asked Herman (hdwillems) before (because of his beautiful hydrangea posts), with no results. My 'blue' (you can interprete 'blue' with different meanings) hydrangea all have the standard pink colour. I'm curious whether you've used a trick or not. Would I could make such a beautiful image! Perfectly done. Regards, Cornelius

First of all this capture is very pretty, and from the lighting we can tell that you're having very nice weather and that just adds to the summertime look. Very nice John!
Secondly, I just read the comment above, and it reminded me of a conversation with my mother two days ago when we were looking at out hydrangeas (we have white, blue, purple and pink). She was saying that she needed to add something to the soil. Now I couldn't remember what so I looked it up on Wikipedia:

"In most species the flowers are white, but in some species (notably H. macrophylla), can be blue, red, pink, or purple. In these species the exact colour often depends on the pH of the soil; acidic soils produce blue flowers, neutral soils produce very pale cream petals, and alkaline soils results in pink or purple. Hydrangeas are one of very few plants that accumulate aluminium. Aluminium is released from acidic soils, and in some species, forms complexes in the hydrangea flower giving them their blue colour."

So for example, one year we added a product to the grass to get rid of moss, and that year our blue hydrangeas turned a deeper color blue than before. I bet there's a product you can buy especially for hydrangeas to make your soil more acid.

Jess, thank you so much for your very helpful annswer. Very much appreciated. Regards, Cornelius

I think a penny will work.... Give it a go. Beautiful photo! ~Mary~

John, een hele mooie foto, en ook weer wat geleerd. gr, Marjolein

I like the composition here-not the usual head-on shot! Well composed and coloured

I just love the close shot of this beautiful flower. It will make a great desktop. Great Job!

Great!