Question
Dear Long Island Gardener,
I live in Patterson, NY and have many beautiful hydrangeas.  Nikko Blue, Endless Summer, Annabelle, Oakleaf, and some beautiful lace caps that I've managed to lose the names of.  Two summers ago, my husband and I were in BridgeHampton and saw many beautiful bluish/purple mophead hydrangeas.  I've been longing for one ever since.  My soil here is acid, so if the plant isn't white, it's a shade of blue.  But, none are as gorgeous as those in the Hamptons.  Can you tell me the name of the variety that is so common there?

Answer
This may come as a surprise, but those violet-tinged blue petals are just very old Hydrangea varieties that were improved for future generations.  Your Nikko Blue et al. are merely better hybrids.

The color of course is the result not only of the more alkaline soil, but of the genetically limited place on the BLUE scale.  Take one of those and put it in the same very acid soil of your Nikko, and the Nikko will always be bluer.  It's got the genes for that.  No matter how low the pH gets for the 'vintage' heirloom Hydrangeas, they can never be THAT blue.

Don't tell anyone I told you, but if you drive along with a razor blade and some Hormone rooting powder some very early morning, slice a few tips diagonally off the branches, plunge in vermiculate, water and wait for them to root.  These are easy plants to grow if you know how to begin.