Carolina Garden: Hydrangea

What happened to the pretty pink hydrangea I bought? The first season in the ground, my little shrub produced small pink blossoms. During the second season the blooms were larger but they were no longer pink. The pink had been replaced with a faint blue. By the third year I had large clusters of deep blue. What happened? The answer is, chemistry happened. Soil conditions affect the color of hydrangea blooms. When my plant was in its original pot, the soil had a high ph level. Since my flower beds are more acidic, the low ph has affected the blooms. I could treat the soil with lime or calcium but that would be detrimental to the nearby gardenias. Luckily for me, my wife prefers the blue blossoms.