Hydrangeas and pink are a match made in heaven! Maybe because this flowering shrub has a very traditional, old world look. Maybe it is because the masses of little blooms in the large inflorescences give you that lace like, or finely embroidered texture that goes so well with tonalities of rose, fuchsia, flamingo or cerise… Maybe because their fresh looking and green leaves are just perfect to make each cluster look like a bouquet on its own… Ready for a wedding!
The theme goes on, and in shady gardens, you also get the chirping of birds and fluttering of butterfly wings to add to this dreamland effect you get with pink colored hydrangea varieties. But there are many differences between them, not just in tonality, from pale pastel to shocking and bright. Bloom size and shape, even the individual flowers have many personalities…
But there is another reason, and it has to do with the color itself of “heaven”, meant as the sky…
Make sure your pink hydrangeas are actually pink, and that you choose one that really finds your garden the best loving place to grow – and maybe it’s one on our list…
But first, there is a little twist in the story… Let’s see how you can make sure that your pink hydrangeas actually blossom in the color you expect…
Unlocking the Secret to Pink Hydrangeas: How to Get the Best Color
You may already have a pink hydrangea in your garden, but you don’t know it. Actually, maybe you cannot even see it! The strange fact is that pink hydrangeas can turn blue, and blue hydrangeas can turn pink! And it’s not magic!
It is simply a matter of soil pH… When the pH is mildly acidic, pink hydrangeas turn blue. Conversely, if the soil pH is mildly alkaline, blue hydrangea flowers turn pink, sometimes even reddish.
So, in order to make sure that you plant a pink hydrangea and you get a pink hydrangea, male sure that the soil pH is between 7.0 and 7.8. Any higher than this and your plant will simply not tolerate it.
You can achieve it by adding lime, dolomite, or you can use gentler ways, like egg shells, wood ash or bone meal. Even green tea raises the soil pH, while black tea lowers it. You can buy a soil pH tester for less than $10, and remember to keep checking over the years, because it can change.
This way, you can be sure that your pink hydrangeas will rally blossom in shades or rose, salmon or flamingo, and not cyan, sky or cobalt, you can read on and pick the one you like best!
12 Beautiful Hydrangeas with Pink Blossoms That Will Add Charm and Elegance to Your Garden
Though sharing the common feature of pink blooms, each of these 12 hydrangea varieties exudes its own unique shade and personality, adding depth and beauty to your garden.
Indulge in the beauty of 12 exquisite hydrangeas boasting delicate pink blossoms, guaranteed to infuse your garden with charm and elegance.
1: ‘Romance’ Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Romance’)
If pink is the most romantic color of all, it is only fair to start with ‘Romance’ bigleaf hydrangea. This compact deciduous shrub will give you clusters of double and star shaped flowers starting quite early compared with other varieties, in mid spring. But its enchanting floral display will last all the way into fall!
And the blossoms are quite extraordinary, because at first, they look like lacecap hydrangeas, when only the top of the blooms are open. But little by little, the others extend their delicate petals too, and this will give you two slightly different tonalities of pale pastel rose, one a bit darker, and one a bit lighter. It is also one of the best cultivars to turn blue, and it will be of a lovely sky hue! The broad and serrated leaves are semi glossy and lush, of a deep green color.
‘Romance’ bigleaf hydrangea is quite a tiny shrub, which makes it ideal for containers and small gardens, as well as being an excellent cultivar for foundation planting, while the strong stems mean good and sweetly soft pink cut flowers!
2: ‘Charm’ Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Charm’)
If pink is one of the softest and most romantic colors, it can also be one of the strongest, as ‘Charm’ bigleaf hydrangea demonstrates. In fact, its dense and round clusters of star shaped flowers are of an immensely vibrant and bright cerise tonality, full of energy and quite showy indeed!
Each inflorescence is about 6 inches across (15 cm) and packed with lots of flowers, leaving no gaps. The blooming season will start in early summer and end by September, impossible to miss on the dense green foliage of this medium sized shrub.
But when all this is over, the leaves will give you an end of season colorful twist, turning orange or red. The actual bloom color really depends on the soil pH, becoming stronger and stronger as it approaches 7.8. Similarly, if it is acidic, the blue will be rich and almost cobalt!
‘Charm’ bigleaf hydrangea is a perfect accent plant in borders or hedges, but equally suitable for a splash of strong pink (or blue) near your house as a foundation plant, as well as excellent for cut flowers!
3: ‘Peppermint’ Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Peppermint’)
‘Peppermint’ is a very appropriate name for this variety of bigleaf hydrangea… The fact is that it is really petite, a dwarf shrub, but with a very spicy personality indeed. Growing to a maximum of 3 feet (90 cm), the inflorescences are massive, at 10 inches in diameter (25 cm)!
And they offer you bicolor flowers, white with pink stripes, with a color that could be pale rose or even close to fuchsia (again, depending on the soil pH). This cultivar too will turn blue if it grows in an acidic environment, but keeping the candid snow colored base.
It will blossom from early spring to early fall, with its huge clusters resting like balls on a dense backdrop of semi glossy, decorative rich green foliage. It is also an unusual variety that will easily flower on new growth.
Given its diminutive size but massive personality, ‘Peppermint’ bigleaf hydrangea is ideal for containers and terraces, but as an accent or foundation plant, you will still enjoy its showy pink and white blooms.
4: ‘Preziosa’ Hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata ‘Preziosa’)
If you want a pink blooming hydrangea but also a few surprising colors mixed in, ‘Preziosa’ is just perfect. In fact, this medium sized variety is a real chameleon! All the flowers are sterile, with dented petals that give you a wavy or gently frilly effect.
The blooms will open with a pale green tonality, to turn yellow later on… But this is not all, because at a yet later stage they will transform again and give you cream, then white, and then finally shades of pink from pale rose to dark pink….
Not finally, actually, as these hues will then blush cherry red and end the season as wine red! All this will happen in your garden from early summer to early fall, while the foliage will keep the backdrop dense and bright green.
This amazing cultivar is full of twists and coupes de theatre, and this must have gained it the famous Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society.
‘Preziosa’ is an intriguing variety of hydrangea for always changing borders or hedges, foundation planting as well as containers. You will enjoy its pink blooms, and in all its amazing colors!
5: ‘Invincibelle Spirit II’ Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Invincibelle Spirit II’)
Sometimes simply called “pink Annabelle”, ‘Invincibelle Spirit II’ smooth hydrangea is a really generous bloomer indeed! The clusters that appear in early summer will concentrate on the top of the shrub, and they are very large indeed!
In fact, they can reach 12 inches across (30 cm), and they have a beautiful round, or globular shape. It is hard to count how many little individual flowers there are in each, possibly 100 or more, and they are all pink, of course!
They vary in tonality from pale pastel rose to warmer and darker hues, like magenta and fuchsia. This will give you a very fine, intricate effect as you get closer to the floral display, that will last till September. Coming on upright and strong, straight stems, they hover just above the rich green and semi glossy foliage that forms a balanced and round mound.
A very cold hardy pink variety indeed, ‘Invincibelle Spirit II’ smooth hydrangea will grow well even in cold climates like the Northern States and Canada, in hedges or borders, and it is great for cut flowers too.
6: ‘Maja’ Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Maja’)
Here is another dwarf variety of bigleaf hydrangea with a showy and vibrant personality! And ‘Maja’ owes it all to it’s a amazing blossoms.. Coming very profusely all through the summer months and into September, they are quite big indeed for a tiny shrub, at about 6 inches across (15 cm).
The color of the many flowers that compose each cluster is on the bright cerise side, but it can vary to deep rose pink tonalities as well. Each head has four almost diamond shaped petals, and the overall bloom is nearly square, while the inflorescence is round and full.
As fall approaches, the they will take on a metallic tan color, before the season closes. All this will benefit from a deep green, semi glossy backdrop of toothed leaves, which adds to the intense theme of this beautiful pink cultivar.
Small and compact, ‘Maja’ bigleaf hydrangea will grow perfectly well in containers, on terraces and in modest sized gardens, where it can also take its place in borders and tall herbaceous beds. And don’t forget that the cut flowers are excellent both fresh and dry.
7: ‘White Diamonds’ Panicle Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘White Diamonds’)
As you may guess from the name, there is a bit of a twist with this variety of panicle hydrangea called ‘White Diamonds’… In fact, it will start as snow white, and you will have to wait till the blossoms turn into the color that you are looking for in this article….
But when it does… In fact, it is a late bloomer, starting only in late summer, but by the end of this season, the flowers with oval petals that form the long and upright panicles start turning parchment in shade, and then they will blush to pale baby pink, and then the blooms will take on darker and brighter hues, on the vibrant rose spectrum, starting at the margins.
They come on strong and sturdy straight stems, pointing up to the sky and in great numbers, while the deeply veined oval leaves will accompany thus floral display with their green and hints of copper when the days get shorter.
Easy to grow, very cold hardy and very rewarding, ‘White Diamonds’ is usually more appreciated for its pink tonalities than the color that gives it its name.
But you will get both whether you grow it in shrubby borders, cottage gardens, containers or even to have some fresh cut flowers for your indoor arrangements.
8: ‘Passion’ Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Passion’)
‘Passion’ is one of those bigleaf varieties of hydrangea that will definitely turn very blue if the soil is acidic, but keep it alkaline and it will literally wow you with its pink blossoms.
The flowers are double and star shaped, and the petals get smaller and smaller from back to front, forming very decorative rosette with their pointed and elliptical petals.
Contained in dense and round clusters, the blooms will start very early indeed, in mid spring, and they will last till early fall, for an extremely long season!
You will also enjoy the different shades of pink that the flowers display. They are all sterile and they open in succession, with tonalities that vary from pale pastel rose to rich pink, almost magenta.
The deep green and large leaves form a perfect bouquet effect, for really romantic – and indeed passionate – shady gardens!
‘Passion’ bigleaf hydrangea will be an excellent accent shrub thanks to its impressively long pink blooms, but you can also grow it in hedges or as foundation planting, as well as in containers, being quite small but charming.
9: ‘Star Gazer’ Lacecap Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Star Gazer’)
A really spectacular lacecap hydrangea variety, ‘Star Gazer’ has one of the most exotic looking blooms you can find among these shrubs! The clusters that appear in early summer are made up of small sessile flowers, which look like little buds that you will find in the center.
But it is the sterile blooms that steal the show… Double and star shaped, much bigger and showy, they come on long pedicles like a crown of heavenly bodies that orbit around the inflorescence!
And they are pink with white margins, so the starry theme is repeated over and over again! This is one of those cultivars that can go both ways… Turn the soil acidic and you ill have the same pattern but with blue and white blossoms instead, even with violet shades!
Very dense, veined oval leaves with serrated edges will set this floral display off perfectly well with their shiny bright green color.
‘Star Gazer’ is one of those hydrangea varieties you want to grow somewhere very visible and in plain sight… Next to your home in foundation planting, in a container on your terrace or as an accent plant in a front garden borders are its vocation, whether you want it to be blue or pink!
10: ‘Spike’ Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Spike’)
And we come to a really romantic variety of bigleaf hydrangea, though the name, ‘Spike’ would not suggest it… It has an extra factor, in fact, which makes it very “old world”, and suitable to an engagement or wedding party: its beautiful and quite large flowers are ruffled!
This adds texture to the round inflorescences, but it also adds depth and that impression of soft materials, like lace, or taffeta. It will only blossom during the summer months but in this period it has a hidden surprise for you…
As the blooms mature, they ripen to green, starting from the center of each bloom… This is one of those cultivars that will be pink, usually with a darker, almost cherry inner part and then fading to pale rose towards the frilly margins, but only in neutral and alkaline soils.
As you may have guessed, it will give you blue if you grow in in an acidic environment, usually sky or with a violet overtone. The shrub itself is round in shape and fairly small, dense with rich green semi glossy and very large leaves.
Like other pink (and blue) varieties, ‘Spike’ bigleaf hydrangea will be an excellent asset in your garden if you grow it in hedges and borders, as an accent shrub or for foundation planting, or at home if you decide to use it as a cut flower.
11: ‘Onyx Flamingo’ Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Onyx Flamingo’)
Arguably one of the best pink cultivars for cut flowers is bigleaf hydrangea ‘Onyx Flamingo’. Onyx is a distinctive series of these flowering shrubs with some very specific characteristics, in fact.
The stems are very strong, upright and straight, so you can see why they are ideal in vases, but they are also really dark, almost black, hence the name… The leaves too are very healthy and glossy, serrated and particularly attractive, with different shades of green, from bright emerald to dark, fading beautifully into one another, and with purple undertones as well!
Let’s come to the blooms then… Large and globular clusters of pink, with fairly big cup shaped flowers will appear in early summer and continue to the end of the season.
All sterile, they will be flamingo in color (yes, that delicate yet vibrant tonality that’s not easy to achieve or find) as long as the soil pH is on the alkaline side. Paler shades will appear with neutral environments.
Apart from being a stunning cut flower for traditional looking and romantic arrangements, ‘Onyx Flamingo’ bigleaf hydrangea is also excellent as an accent plant, in borders and hedges or also in containers!
12: ‘Love’ Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Love’)
How could we close our selection of pink varieties of hydrangea, if not with a bigleaf cultivar called ‘Love’? And it is quite a good description of this deciduous shrub, which has a round but spreading habit.
And the inflorescences too follow this theme, being quite flat in shape. All the flowers are sterile, and they are quite big, and – an extra bonus – they are double as well.
The outer petals are bigger and broad, but they become smaller and smaller and more oval as you get to the center of the blossom. Each looks like a little rosette, perfect for a bouquet look.
Starting in early summer, it will continue its floral display till quite late, in fact, till late fall or frost! And the tonality of the blossoms is enchanting: bright but pastel, it fades along the rose range, from pale to intense.
The very broad and semi glossy, mid green leaves that grow beneath and behind them complete the effect perfectly well. It has also won the gold medal at the National Plant Show in the UK and the silver medal at Planetarium, both in 2013.
Of course, ‘Love’ bigleaf hydrangea is a queen of romance in borders, containers, for foundation planting or as an accent plant, and a sweet gift as a cut flower!
The Rosy World of Pink Hydrangeas
And so, we come to the end of this rosy journey in the world of pink hydrangeas. With different tonalities, even turning blue, and many shapes and personalities, I hope you have found the one you love best.
Written By
Margie Fetchik
Margie and Arkansas native has an extensive background in gardening and landscaping. For the last 40 years, Margie has called the Colorado Rocky Mountains her home. Here she and her husband of 36 years raised three kids and owned a successful landscaping company. Margie has a CSU Master Gardener certification. She specialized in garden design & installation, perennial gardens, turf grasses & weeds, flower containers, and the overall maintenance of allHOA, commercial and residential accounts. She and her husband now reside in Denver and are excited about the new experiences’ city life holds.