Hydrangea macrophylla Mathilde Gutges

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Mathilde Gutges', created in Germany after the Second World War, is a benchmark in the category of blue flower-ball hydrangeas. This variety offers a flowering of a blue that is more intense the more acidic the soil is. It can develop purplish-violet and metallic reflections as it fades. Its small balls of flowers bloom abundantly in summer and remain decorative for almost 5 months. A small, hardy, versatile hydrangea. Plant it in semi-shade, in non-limestone, fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Provide it with acidic soil or enriched with aluminium sulphate to reveal its magnificent blue colours.

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Mathilde Gutges' is a creation of August Steiniger, dating from 1946. It is a hardy and particularly floriferous hybrid. Hydrangeas belong to the Hydrangeaceae family, native to China and Japan. Within a few years, 'Mathilde Gutges' forms a small bush with a rounded and sprawling habit. It will reach a maximum height of 1m (3ft) and a spread of 1.2m (4ft). From July to September, it produces an abundance of round inflorescences, 10 to 12cm (4 to 5in) wide, at the ends of one-year-old branches. When they emerge, the inflorescences are yellow-green in colour, tinged with blue-purple. Cup-shaped, they are composed of fertile flowers with dentate petals. In acidic soil (pH between 5 and 6), these flowers display an intense blue colour, even royal blue, lit up with white and green at the centre. In slightly calcareous soil, the flowers will have a lilac-pink hue, quite common in hydrangeas. The faded flowers retain interesting colours, with slate, violet, and turquoise reflections. The flowering is spread over ample, rounded, bright green, dentate, glossy foliage, which takes on beautiful coppery colours in autumn before falling. The leaves are opposite, and reach about 10 cm (4in) in length. They are single, ovate to elliptical, ending in a pointed tip, and coarsely dentate. Hydrangeas can live for at least 50 years.

'Mathilde Gutges' is a very blue, generous, and hardy variety, which reveals all its beauty in acidic soil rich in alumina. Hydrangeas are well known for brightening up the north side of houses. This one will thrive in an east or west exposure that is not scorching. This variety is particularly suited to growing in an informal hedge, in a bed, or isolated near a doorway. Even though these plants fear limestone, hydrangeas are not strictly ericaceous plants. Combine them with Japanese maples, ferns, Japanese anemones, lilies, foxgloves, or annual impatiens. Alternatively, plant spring-flowering bulbs in front of their round silhouette. Enjoy their sumptuous flowering for a very long time in the garden or in the house. 

Advice: Don't prune too early! Leave the dried inflorescences on the plant and only cut them after the spring frosts. They effectively protect the new vegetation and future flowers.

Note: The colour of the flowers of Hydrangea macrophylla varies according to the pH of the soil. Traditionally blue varieties turn pink in neutral or alkaline soil. To preserve a beautiful blue colour, mix ericaceous soil with your garden soil. Add aluminium sulphate (slate contains it) or alum stone every year in spring.