Hydrangea Forever and Ever series

Hydrangea ‘Forever and Ever Blue Heaven.’

* Common name: Hydrangea Forever and Ever(R) series

* Botanical name: Hydrangea macrophylla

* What it is: A rounded, summer-flowering shrub that gets softball-sized blooms of pink, white, blue or rose in early summer, then sporadically late summer into fall. Blooms on this year’s and last year’s wood. Especially nice is ‘Forever and Ever Blue Heaven.’

* Size: More compact than most hydrangeas at 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide.

* Where to use: Best in morning sun/afternoon shade. An eastern foundation is perfect. They’re also happy in dappled sunlight under trees.

* Care: Acidify the soil with sulfur or aluminum sulfate to make flowers blue. Use lime to make them pink. (White stays white no matter.) Water deeply once or twice a week in dry weather. Annual spring scattering of organic granular flower fertilizer helps flower production. Prune right after first round of blooms brown but only if needed for size control. Otherwise, just snip the spent flower heads off the tips.

* Great partner: Pink lamium or liriope (perennials) or pink impatiens (annuals).