In June, when the rainy season begins, the gloomy days are enlivened by the sight of the bright hydrangeas.
The bigleaf hydrangea, or Hydrangea macrophylla, is a flowering plant native to Japan, known locally as ajisaior hama-ajisai, “beach hydrangea”, since it is commonly found in coastal areas.
The bigleaf hydrangea yields a corymb, that is a cluster of six to nine flowers. They tend to be blue when growing on acidic soils and red on alkaline soils. The slightly acidic soils of Japan yield blue flowers, whereas red hydrangeas are more commonly found in Europe.