HYDRANGEA. 141 



The Hydrangea is one of the few plants that appear to 

 thrive even when no care is taken of them. Still I would 

 not advise or advocate s-ueh looseness in any person that 

 has the least pretension to the culture of flowers. I re- 

 collect an anecdote of a nurseryman in London, who was 

 celebrated for selling blue Hydrangeas, which commanded 

 a great price, for several years ; but all at once his stock 

 run out ; he had none but pink. It appeared, in the sequel, 

 that he bad purchased several loads of peat soil, with which 

 he potted his plants, little suspecting the effect its quality 

 would produce on his flowers. When the blooming season 

 arrived, he was agreeably surprised at the effect. This in- 

 duced him to keep the balance expressly for that purpose ; 

 and, as long as any of the soil lasted, he could meet all 

 demands. To his mortification, he coukUnot find the man 

 of whom he purchased, neither could he procure any soil 

 to produce the same effect, consequently he was in the pre- 

 dicament of Othello, "his occupation gone." I have no 

 doubt from the greediness of the plant, that soil procured 

 from marshy grounds, dried and sifted, would be good. It 

 is said that iron filings will turn the color of the flower. 

 If such be the case, why not a yellow sandy loam of a red- 

 ish cast, be good, which contains a certain portion of iron? 

 This is easily to be obtained from the brick yards. Turf 

 laid by for a year to rot, is a good composition, mixed with 

 rotten leaves. In short the plant will grow in almost any 

 soil, but the color is difficult to change. 



The Hydrangea is of easy culture, and will strike root at 

 any time, when not in a state of rest ; this is from the time 

 the leaf begins to drop until the buds swell in the spring. 

 The best time to pot the plants is in March, and instead of 



