Hydrangea Mountain 'Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha®'

Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha® is a mountain hydrangea that has abundance of light pink lacecap flowers with double florets, and foliage that resists wilting. Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha® is an excellent rebloomer, giving you almost continuous flowers throughout the summer. The flowers can be cut for bouquets, dried, or left on as winter interest. Mountain Hydrangeas are similar to Bigleaf Hydrangeas, but tend to be smaller, have better cold tolerance, and have lacecap flowers as opposed to mopheads.

Hydrangeas with lacecap blooms are very attractive to pollinators, as the fertile flowers with nectar are accessible to them and not hidden behind sterile florets. 

The flowers of Mountain Hydrangeas change colour depending on the pH of your soil. In general, a low pH (acidic) makes your flowers blue, a neutral pH makes them purple, and a high pH (alkaline) makes them pink. In Durham Region, our soil has a very high pH (alkaline), which will make your hydrangea flower pink, regardless of the colour they were when purchased. To change the pH of your soil, add Aluminum Sulphate or Elemental Sulphur. 

Hydrangeas have very shallow root systems and dry out quickly, especially in full sun. If you notice your hydrangea is wilting, dropping flowers and/or leaves, or turning brown, it is time to water! Applying a layer of mulch around the root system can also help conserve water.