Photo: Amy Fulcher

Hydrangeas, though exotic, have become a reliable thread in the fabric of southern society dating back to their introduction into North America in the 18th or 19th century. Many cultivars have been introduced recently stimulating a popular resurgence in the past 50 years. Two horticultural groups of H. macrophylla are recognized: “lacecaps” and “mopheads,” also called hortensias. Lacecaps have fewer sterile florets, but these showy parts circle round, flat flowerheads comprised of numerous, tiny flowers. The effect is striking in the landscape and can provide a more natural appearance. Mopheads have large, round corymbs consisting primarily of large, sterile flowers. Mopheads are in part popular because of their blue flowers (technically modified leaves called sepals), yet flower color can be manipulated to produce a range of colors from pink to lavender to blue depending on cultivar and soil chemical properties (Fig. 1a and b). It has been reported that some growers can sell on average 10 blue hydrangeas for one every pink, so controlling the color is crucial. First, however, the plants must be flowering at time of sale.

Production plans

Bigleaf hydrangea is considered hardy from USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9. However, hardiness varies among cultivars, and selection must be made carefully to match the location. Some cultivars are more cold hardy, but have less heat tolerance, and vice versa. Vernalization, a duration of cold temperatures for approximately 6 to 10 weeks, needs to occur to ensure a robust bloom either in the spring or prior to being forced to flower. Cold injury to the flower buds and improper pruning are the usual reasons for flower failure. Bigleaf hydrangeas form flower buds during late summer and early fall; therefore, flower buds are exposed to low winter temperatures and can be damaged by cold. Remontantcy is a major marketing factor for mophead hydrangeas because plants will flower in the spring and again during summer and fall. The first set of flowers in spring for remontant bloomers is also initiated the previous year, therefore all types of bigleaf hydrangea flowers can be damaged by cold. Pruning severely in late summer when floral buds are initiated or in winter decreases or eliminates flowers in spring. Prune plants for structure after the first flowers finish in late spring to promote remontantcy and avoid inhibiting flower production the following year.

High summer temperatures (≥86F) during the day are known to interfere with normal flower and vegetative development. Additionally, night temperatures (≥80F) are potentially damaging to previously formed flower initials; delaying, distorting, preventing new flower development, and/or causing vegetative distortion. The severe southeastern U.S. heat wave of June 2015 was believed to prevent some H. macrophylla selections from blooming while in production, thus resulting in a significant loss of sales. Root restriction in container production can also reduce flower initiation. Unfortunately, if plants do not sell because they have no flowers due to improper pruning, high temperatures, or cold damage, the situation worsens because roots become restricted if not potted into larger containers.

Photo by Amy Fulcher

Manipulating flower color

Growing mophead hydrangeas with blue flowers is easy in southeastern U.S. landscapes because aluminum and other macronutrients are plentiful and soil pH is acidic (<7). Trying to replicate those conditions in containers, however, is not easy, because bark substrate pH is low, aluminum (Al) needs to be abundant, macronutrients, including calcium and magnesium, need not be limiting, and micronutrients need to be present to mitigate any unforeseen deficiencies, such as iron. Therefore, aluminum sulfate (AlSO4), ground or coarse dolomitic limestone, and micronutrients are incorporated in the substrate as amendments. Controlled release fertilizers are used to provide nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and in some cases micronutrients. Your dolomite amendment should result in maintaining a substrate pH of 4.5 to 5.5 throughout production. In general, the sepal color intensity is determined by a cultivar’s inherent ability to produce blue pigment, the amount and availability of aluminum in the substrate managed by aluminum addition and pH, and a cultivar’s ability to accumulate aluminum from the substrate. When the substrate pH is acidic (4.5 to 5.5) and aluminum is present, sepal color can be expected to be blue because aluminum is generally highly available at a low pH. At pH = 6.0, aluminum is less available in the substrate regardless of the amount; therefore, sepal color is most likely pink. Between pH 5.5 to 6.0, sepal color might be pink, blue, or lavender, or a mixture of pink and blue flowers may be present on the same plant. This is highly dependent upon cultivar. The flower color is not permanent.

Incorporation of AlSO4 at a rate of 12.5 pounds per cubic yard of substrate is required because soilless substrates like pine bark have little or no aluminum. The aluminum in AlSO4 simultaneously lowers the pH, making aluminum more available, and increases the amount available for uptake by the plant. If the substrate pH is >5.5, or aluminum was absent during potting, topdress with polymer-coated AlSO4 at the labeled rate or drench a moist container at a rate of approximately 1.5 fluid ounces (45 grams) per gallon (10 pounds AlSO4 per 100 gallons of water) before flower buds form to increase bluing. Ideally, aluminum will be in containers from potting to sale. Drenches should be repeated every 10 to 14 days and should not coincide with fertigating with a complete fertilizer containing phosphorus (P). Phosphorus can bind to aluminum, making it less available. Guides for greenhouse production of hydrangea recommend fertigating with moderate nitrogen (N) rates, no or low P, and high potassium (K) rates; therefore, using an incomplete fertilizer (no P) or one with low P with a ratio of 6N: 1 P2O5: =6K2O is preferred when forcing hydrangeas or targeting blue flowers. This has resulted in controlled release fertilizer with less phosphorus; however, one must be cautious when limiting phosphorus since it can become limiting and decrease overall growth, leaf size or result in purpling of leaves. Additionally, if acidifying irrigation water, use sulfuric acid or nitric acid instead of phosphoric acid to minimize the interaction of phosphorus and aluminum to maximize aluminum availability.

Substrate differences

Variables that affect aluminum availability include substrate components, substrate amendments including lime and phosphorus, time of potting, irrigation water quality, the volume of rainfall and irrigation plants received, and the formulation, application method and rate of fertilizer. Testing the water supply is crucial to gain the necessary information on water pH and alkalinity. Aluminum toxicity can damage or kill roots, stunt plants and flowers, cause leaves to drop and the smaller flowers to abort (Fig. 2). Not only can aluminum toxicity damage crops, but so can low pH. Plant death can also occur; therefore, use of AlSO4 must be done carefully and on a small scale until the grower becomes familiar with how the plants will respond in their individual production system.

Adding specific fired clays or industrial mineral aggregates may provide a method to increase aluminum availability without having to manage dangerously low pH levels or aluminum toxicity in containers. The addition of 10 percent Kaolite (v/v), a calcined clay mineral, in the potting substrate increased aluminum availability and sepal blueness. Kansas State University determined plants grown in 10-20 percent zeolite (another clay mined from volcanic rocks and ash layers reacted with alkaline groundwater), precharged with Al, produced blue sepals, but growth was reduced when zeolite levels reached 30-40 percent in substrates. While at Oregon State University, Jim Owen determined that increasing levels of Pozzolan (amorphous aluminosilicate) increased blue sepal color and consumer desirability ratings, both of which were best when AlSO4 and Pozzolan were used in combination. When using Pozzolan, adding calcined clay and AlSO4 supported blue sepals even at higher pH.

Mineral soils normally have sufficient levels of aluminum. Therefore, elemental sulfur rather than AlSO4 is recommended. Sulfur alone lowers the pH to 4.5-5.5, so that the naturally occurring aluminum is available to plants and additional Al does not need to be added, avoiding potential toxicity. Field-grown mophead hydrangeas can be induced to bloom blue by lowering the soil pH several months in advance of bud set (six months if pH is high). However, lowering the pH rapidly with a large amount of sulfur can cause the soil pH to go below 4.0, which can damage or kill roots. Before planting any crop or adjusting pH, test the soil.

Blues and beyond

Hydrangeas that have blue flowers readily in the landscape or field are often thought of as easy to grow in container production. This is true when substrate, irrigation, and aluminum are managed closely. Be prepared to experiment with these factors to maintain a pH in containers between 4.5-5.5; provide available aluminum without causing toxicity; amend with calcium and magnesium; and irrigate with enough water to prevent desiccation injury, but not leach nutrients necessary to produce plentiful, verdant canopies laden with vibrant, blue flowers.

A few cultivars do not turn blue regardless of soil pH, or have several colors on an individual inflorescence. Check with your liner supplier to confirm range of flower color. Additionally, some newly bred mophead hydrangeas such as BloomStruck do not turn completely blue regardless of cultural or production practices, resulting in florets with blue-purple or “blurple” coloring (Fig. 3).

Dr. Anthony LeBude (avlebude@ncsu.edu) is an Associate Professor of Horticultural Science at NC State University located at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center, Mills River, NC. Dr. Jim Owen (jsowen@vt.edu) is an Associate Professor of Horticulture at Virginia Tech located at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Virginia Beach, VA. Dr. Amy Fulcher (afulcher@utk.edu) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. Find this information and more via the following extension publications: “Hydrangea Production: Cultivar Selection and General Practices to Consider When Propagating and Growing Hydrangea” ( http://bit.ly/PB1840A), “Hydrangea Production: Species-Specific Production Guide,” (http://bit.ly/PB1840B) and the hydrangea chapter in “IPM Shrub Production” (http://bit.ly/2sPSkUq).

Jeremy Deppe received a text message at 4 a.m. on a chilly January morning. It was from his father, Dale Deppe, the owner of Spring Meadow Nursery, and it included a photo of the nursery’s office engulfed in flames.

Jeremy, the nursery’s general manager, was six hours away attending his son’s soccer tournament.

“I told my wife and kids, ‘I’ve got to go,’” he says. “You’ll have to find a way home because I’m leaving right now.”

By the time he made it back from Ohio to Grand Haven, Mich., the fire crews had left and the office was a smoldering ruin.

Firefighters from six different townships had worked through the night to subdue the blaze. The first fire crews responded within five minutes of receiving the 2:48 a.m. call reporting the fire. But when they arrived on the scene, the roof of the office building had already collapsed. The fire chief from Robinson Township, Spring Meadow’s local department, knows how valuable the greenhouses are to the business. In fact, when his crew first arrived, their first move wasn’t to begin working on the office – the building that was actually on fire. They touched the walls of the greenhouses closest to the office, found that they were hot to the touch, and started hosing them off. If not for that quick-thinking action, the fire might have claimed the high-value structures and young plants housed within them. The firefighters continued working through the night until nearly 8 a.m., and ultimately succeeded in protecting the nursery’s multimillion dollar investments in plants and structures.

The aftermath

After the fire crews left, the Spring Meadow staff started combing through the wreckage. There wasn’t much to save.

“We found some books, T-shirts, coffee mugs but they were all charred up,” Jeremy says. The nursery’s IT team tried to salvage the company’s servers, but they were unrecoverable.

However, the nursery was prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. Most of the nursery’s documents and data were backed up digitally, but some important paperwork was stored in fireproof cabinets in the office. The cabinets held contracts with several large customers, as well as plant patent and trademark documents. The fireproof cabinets lived up to their name. Some of the files on the top shelves were slightly damp from steam released as the cabinets heated up during the blaze, and everything reeked of smoke, but all of the files survived. Spring Meadow is contracting with a company to clean and scan those documents, so they will have digital copies of everything going forward.

Of course, the destruction of the office created plenty of logistical difficulties for the nursery. The phone system, internet and computer networks were all housed in the office. There was no drinkable water, because the well used for that particular purpose was in that building. Several of Spring Meadow’s greenhouses were electronically controlled from that office.

The Spring Meadow team began the reconstruction effort by asking questions and setting priorities. One of the first decisions the group made was to use the lunchroom as the new office. Once that decision was made, the next steps could be set in motion. The top priorities were getting electricity back and being able to control the greenhouses again, getting water up and running so employees could use the bathrooms, and re-establishing communication with the outside world. Spring Meadow brought in contractors to add electrical outlets and wiring, fiber and network connections for 40-plus new computers.

Water and power were back by Monday, internet was back on Tuesday, environmental controls were in place by Wednesday and employees’ computers were mostly set up by Friday. In many ways, Spring Meadow was back to business within a week, though Jeremy says that has less to do with Spring Meadow than its business partners. For instance, Argus Controls, Spring Meadow’s main supplier of environmental controls, overnighted new main units to replace those lost in the fire. The production team didn’t have to hand-water its liners for long.

“You’re only as good as your partners,” he says. “A lot of this work was done by outside contractors that we use on a regular basis. We called them on Sunday afternoon and said ‘We’ve had a fire. We’re going to need your help this week.’ They did whatever they had to do to be here and get us back up and going. They worked some long hours to do it. To me, they’re not vendors, they’re partners. It’s times like these where it really shines through that they care about us and we care about them. We help each other out.”

Business as usual

News of the fire spread considerably slower than the fire itself. As the building smoldered, Spring Meadow’s leadership team had a question to answer: how do you communicate with your team when you don’t have an office anymore?

The nursery’s phone and email systems were casualties of the fire. Spring Meadow’s employees needed to know if they could come to work — if there was even a place for them to work.

Spring Meadow had set up a private Facebook group a few years ago for staff members to communicate with each other. It’s a closed group, so only Spring Meadow employees could join. Usually there would be one post every other week or so. In the aftermath of the fire, the nursery staff leaned heavily on that tool to communicate. Jeremy and other members of the Spring Meadow team posted multiple updates each day keeping employees in the loop. It was easier and more efficient than a few hundred text messages.

Spring Meadow Nursery propagates, sells and ships flowering shrub liners anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. As word trickled out across the country about the fire, many of the growers who rely on Spring Meadow were worried. With no office phone or email capabilities, it was tougher to communicate with the outside world. But with additional tools like cell phones, personal email addresses and the official Spring Meadow Nursery Facebook page, the team could push regular updates to concerned customers and the industry in general.

“Our sales team did a fantastic job of reaching out to as many customers as possible letting them know that we’re okay, letting them know that the plants were fine,” Jeremy says. “Our marketing team did a great job with press releases and communicating over social media.”

One of Spring Meadow’s goals was to keep production rolling along smoothly through the fire recovery process with minimal customer impact. If a customer didn’t already know about the fire, they’d never think that their liner supplier was working through a major disaster. Jeremy says the production team got back to work right away and began taking orders again the week following the fire.

“We received a number of emails and calls from people thanking us and letting us know that they’re thinking about us with the office being gone, but thankful that from their perspective they didn’t notice any changes,” Jeremy says. “It was business as usual.”

Lessons learned

Not every facet of the recovery has been smooth. Years ago, the nursery set up an automatic nightly file backup system to keep a copy of its sales and production data at a secure off-site location. But having a backup plan in place isn’t enough. You need to actually test it to make sure it is working the way you think it is. Spring Meadow’s data recovery process was set back a full week longer than it would have been if the backup system had been thoroughly tested, Jeremy says.

Spring Meadow also has been deep in the insurance abyss. The process of filing a claim like theirs is complicated and time-consuming. The company had business interruption and extra expense coverage. Spring Meadow didn’t have to dip into its business interruption coverage, but if the nursery lost any of its greenhouses in the fire, it would have been vital to the recovery. Business interruption would have covered the lost income from any fire-damaged inventory, as well as the associated costs of rebuilding the greenhouse structures.

Many smaller operations may not opt for extra expense coverage. Extra expense covers money that you need to spend in the event of a loss that isn’t a normal course-of-business expense. An example would be when Spring Meadow hired contractors for a week to set up its network and phone systems.

“If we hadn’t had a loss, we wouldn’t have spent that money,” Jeremy says. “But because we had a loss, we spent it. An insurance company, under our extra expense policy, will cover those.”

Most insurance companies recommend taking photos of your operation once a year to document your facility. If you have a partial loss, you may be able to get by without that documentation. But in the event of a total loss, there’s literally nothing left to check your memory against if you don’t have those photos. When filing an insurance claim, your data must be presented a certain way. Spring Meadow chose to get expert help from a third-party public adjuster.

“We don’t like to spend our money on consultants and expensive hourly people, but they’ve proven to be a huge asset for us,” Jeremy says.

The adjuster interviewed Spring Meadow’s staff to fill in some of the blanks about the office: how many offices were there? How much of it was drywall? Were parts carpeted or tile? How many computers were there?

“It’s been a pretty daunting process trying to document the hundreds or thousands of things that were inside the office to make sure we get reimbursed and make sure that we get enough money from the insurance company to rebuild the office the way that it was,” Jeremy says.

Bright future

Of course, Spring Meadow isn’t going to continue cramming its office workers into a converted lunchroom forever. If there is a silver lining in the loss of the office building, it’s that the fire accelerated the timeline for construction of a new office. Jeremy says the old office had been bursting at the seams for quite some time. In fact, plans had already been drawn up for an expansion that would double the size of the existing office.

Dale is relishing the work planning the new offices, which is fine with Jeremy.

“It’s not my cup of tea by any means,” Jeremy says. “By having him be the point person on that, it’s allowed me to focus on day to day, week to week operations.”

Overall, the Spring Meadow team considers itself very lucky. Perhaps an odd statement considering the total loss of a building, but the circumstances surrounding the fire could have been much worse.

“If this fire would have happened in the spring, it would have been devastating,” Jeremy says. “It happened in January. We had plenty of time to regroup and move forward. We’re really lucky that it started in the middle of the night. Nobody was here. Nobody got hurt. And we were really lucky that the greenhouses were unaffected and the crops were fine.”

Many different fire investigators have tried to determine the actual cause of the fire. Although theories have been proposed, none have been validated. While losing its office and everything within it was a setback, it galvanized the Spring Meadow team to build tighter bonds and grow stronger as a company.

“In the grand scheme of life, they were just things,” Jeremy says. “It was just stuff in a building. The important things in life and in business were just fine. It’s allowed our team to bind together a little bit, have each other’s backs, and support each other. The temporary office is a little cozy. We all deal with that. But we’ve grown together as a team. We’ve grown together as a company. It’s another reminder that life is full of challenges and obstacles, and our ability to come together as a team and overcome those will continue to build Spring Meadow Nursery. If we put our mind to it, we can do it.”

Plants provide so many activities for families to enjoy, from climbing trees to cutting flowers for an arrangement, but edibles really get people excited to be out in the garden. What’s more fun to a young gardener (and us old ones, too) than watching for the right time to pick fruit and being able to eat what you grow?

With some delightful POP, Lonicera caerulea (blue honeysuckle or honeyberry) could be your next high-dollar crop. Nature’s candy, anyone? I’ve heard the fruit flavor is sweet and has a “zing” to it.

The combination of the recognizable honeysuckle flowers and beautiful deep-blue fruit, along with its cold hardiness (Zone 2 for crying out loud), gives this shrub a lot of value.

There are several cultivars available in the trade, and this isn’t a widely used or known plant, which provides growers and retailers the chance to offer something uncommon to consumers.

Why grow Lonicera caerulea?

• Tasty, healthy fruit
• Extremely cold-hardy
• Unusual edible that could command a high retail price

Sources: Missouri Botanical Garden, University of Illinois Extension, Proven Winners

When it comes to introducing new concepts or practices to your team, not everyone will grasp or process the information the same way. Learning styles help teachers and students, but are just as helpful for managers training employees.

Visual

Someone with a visual learning style prefers seen or observed things, including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, films, etc. These people will be best able to perform a new task after reading the instructions or watching someone else do it first. This type of learner may become frustrated with too many meetings or discussions.

Tips for accommodating visual learners:

• Use maps or flow charts to organize
• Highlight and color code books/notes to organize and relate material
• Provide material on paper and move them around into proper sequence.

Auditory

Someone with an auditory learning style prefers listening to the spoken word, sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as “tell me,” or “let’s talk it over,” and will be best able to perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. They are happy being given instructions over the phone, and can remember all the words to songs that they hear.

This type of learner does best by talking things through. You can help them be successful by being a sounding board.

Tips for auditory learners:

• Engage the trainee in conversation about the subject matter
• Question trainees about the material
• Ask for oral summaries of material
• Record training sessions and review them together.

Kinesthetic or tactile

Someone with a kinesthetic learning style prefers physical experience. They will use phrases such as “let me try” and prefer to learn as they go. They are less likely to read the instructions first.

The tactile learner may do better in an environment where they have the opportunity to move around as they work or think. They may come across as having nervous energy, but it is just how they process information.

Tips for accommodating kinesthetic or tactile learners:

• Write out checklists of materials to be learned
• Use role play or dramatize concepts.

Then there are the conundrums like me who exhibit a combination of learning styles. I’m a mixture of tactile and auditory, leaning more toward auditory. 

Take the time to find out your teams’ learning styles, and accommodate training for a more efficient and pleasant experience. You’ll likely save time and money in the long run.

Sources: UMass Dartmouth, vark-learn.com, cornerstoneondemand.com