Hydrangea Kolmaru 'Magical Rubyred'

Rich, ruby red flower heads over lush, dark, almost black foliage. A long blooming, compact choice that begins in spring with a chartreuse blush and continues into autumn, with the colour deepening as the season progresses, to exotic, mulberry tones.

A terrific choice for a potted display at Christmas.
An asset in courtyards, containers and gardens big or small. The flowers open from early summer and power on through autumn. These plants don’t need much maintenance and provide rich rewards.

This marvellous shrub has lush green foliage, mounding 80-100cm high but in containers it will be more compact. The flowers open on one year old wood so should be pruned to around one third, after flowering, late autumn or winter. Add some fertiliser early spring as they begin to grow.

While predominantly you can manipulate the colour with the soil PH. Yates make it easy with Hydrangea Pinking Liquid (Lime/Dolomite) and Hydrangea Blueing Liquid (Aluminium sulphate). Acidic soils (6.0 or lower) will produce blue to lilac shades. Alkaline soils (7.0 and above) result in pinks so you want to promote an alkaline soil for the best ruby colouring.

Hydrangeas grow best planted in a sheltered position of the garden where the roots are cool and moist. It is a good idea to add plenty of organic matter to the soil as it will result in masses of stunning blooms. Keep the plants well watered and protected from the hot afternoon sun.

Hydrangea flowers are good for picking. To help make the flowers last longer, bring a bucket of water out with you to the garden, plunge them in as soon as you have cut the stem. Once you are inside, cut them again (cut the stem on an angle so it has more surface area and doesn’t’ sit on the bottom of the vase) and hold them in hot, boiled water for 30 seconds before arranging in a vase. If it starts to wilt, you can plunge it into a bath – they can rehydrate through the petals/stems and leaves.