Gardening Ideas Outdoor Plants Perennial Plants How To Change Hydrangea Color Whether you want pink or blue, it's easy to change the hue of your hydrangea blooms. By Steve Bender Steve Bender Steve Bender, also known as The Grumpy Gardener, is an award-winning author, editor, columnist, and speaker with nearly 40 years experience as Garden Editor, Senior Writer, and Editor-at-Large for Southern Living. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on February 10, 2017 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Southern Living Here are a couple of tricks to turn hydrangea flowers the color you want. To turn blue flowers pink, sprinkle 3 to 4 cups of lime around the base of the plant. Do this again several months later. To turn pink flowers blue, add 4 tablespoons of aluminum sulfate to a gallon of water, and drench around the base. Do this again three weeks later. The color change takes about a year in either case, so be patient. What about altering a white hydrangea? Some people claim there is no way to change the color, but I disagree. Just stop watering it for a few months at the height of summer and watch what happens. "Hydrangea Color" is from the June 2002 issue of Southern Living. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit