blueberries and cream hydrangea

Shopping with my daughter and hubby just before Easter at Lowe's, I finally got a chance to see Strawberries and Cream™ gift hydrangeas on the shelves!

These yummy-looking-enough-to-eat lacecap hydrangeas featured clusters of dark, rosy-red blooms surrounding milky-white centers.

Specially bred for long-lasting indoor blooms, Strawberries and Cream (previously available in limited quantities) is more widely available this year through Lowe’s and independent garden centers, primarily in the Northeastern U.S.  A new “flavor” – Blueberries and Cream™ –  is also available in limited quantities. Wider distribution for Strawberries and Cream and Blueberries and Cream is planned for 2013.

At home, I tried to decide just the right place for them. In the front entryway? On the dining room table? In the corner?

Strawberries and Cream already has other gardeners hungry for more:

“I’m smitten by Strawberries and Cream! Bravo!” says About.com’s Container Gardening Guide Kerry Michaels, based in coastal Maine.

“I let my daughter take one to work,” says Cold Climate Gardening blogger Kathy Purdy of New York State’s Southern Tier. “She works for a physical therapy office, so there are people coming and going all day. She told me several people asked her where they could get one for themselves. It has already made a big impression … You have a winner on your hands.”

Strawberries and Cream and Blueberries and Cream will bloom for one to two months indoors. If you’re going to plant them outdoors, wait till early summer, since these plants are specially grown in greenhouses to flower in time for Mother’s Day, and can’t take the cooler spring temperatures.

In zones 7 and above, once their bloom cycle has been completed and nighttime temperatures reach 60 degrees Fahrenheit, these hydrangeas can be planted outdoors in the garden starting in early summer for a beautiful show the following year.

I recently wrote about some of my favorite new plant intros for 2012, including the new 'Pink Champagne' blueberry that does well in cooler climates. Now here are two different kinds of "fruity" plants – also new for next gardening season!

Introducing Strawberries and Cream and Blueberries and Cream, two yummy-looking-enough-to-eat lacecap hydrangeas serving up clusters of fruity-colored blooms surrounding milky-white centers. Both gift plants, specially bred for long-lasting indoor blooms, will be available this coming spring through Lowe’s, Home Depot and independent garden centers.

The dark-rosy-red-bloomed Strawberries and Cream (available previously in limited distribution) is now readily and widely available, along with a new “flavor” – Blueberries and Cream. Blueberries and Cream, which offers scrumptious-blue flowers for cool-colored refreshment, will be available primarily in the Northeastern U.S. for the 2012 season, with greater distribution planned for 2013.

Both of these gift hydrangeas will bloom for one to two months indoors. If you’re going to plant them outdoors, however, wait till early summer. These plants are specially grown in greenhouses to flower in time for Mother’s Day and can’t take the cooler spring temperatures.

In zones 7 and above (after their initial flowering), Strawberries and Cream and Blueberries and Cream can be planted outdoors in the garden from early summer on for a beautiful show the following year.

If you live in Zone 6 or lower and want to plant them outside for blooms the following year (again, only after their indoor spring flowering), you must give them special care. Treat them as you would your other subtropical or warmer-climate plants, and give them winter protection.

For instance, you can plant them in a spot where they’re screened from freezing winds or – for those who really want to play it safe – dig them up and store them in your garage in a 30-gallon trash bag filled with leaves.

They're not only great as Mother's Day Gifts, but as centerpieces or just as quick pick-me-ups for winter-weary souls in spring.

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Blueberries and Cream hydrangea

Strawberries and Cream hydrangea