Hydrangea macrophylla 'Ami Pasquier' (bigleaf hydrangea)
'Ami Pasquier' is one of those mopheads with a wide variation of highly saturated colors - crimson in alkaline and a correspondingly saturated purple-wine to blue as the soils go down the scale toward acidic.
I realized I thought crimson meant red, so I double-checked with Google, "what color is crimson" and got back "of a rich deep red color inclining to purple." Yes! That's it. I agree, she is indeed often crimson in high pH soils.
She also tends to flower for a really long time, what's called "free flowering."
Fall color can be excellent. There's a picture, if you scroll through them, that shows the true red fall color.
At 3-4' in size, Ami Pasquier bigleaf hydrangea tends toward a little smaller than others, so keep that in mind when placing her in the garden - you don't need to give this cultivar quite as much room as the others.
- deeply saturated mophead
- single specimen and accent use
- large container use
- grouping and massing - large swaths
- flower and shrub borders
- tolerant of salt spray so great for maritime climates
- heat tolerant
- cut flowers
- long flowering period
- Spring: medium green
- Summer: medium green
- Fall: red
Yes, I've come to the conclusion that Hydrangeas don't like to have their flower color profiled and clinically categorized like we humans try to do to everyone and everything. Please keep in mind that flower color varies widly and wildly depending on soil pH and the amount of aluminum actually in your soil, the amount of time aluminum has been availalbe to the plant (did you add Al only last month?), the unique propensity of how each cultivar reacts to Al, and if the flower heads get a touch of sunshine as they age.
The flower color is not as you described, it seems darker to me.
Same issues as when it's paler; say after me, "a-lum-i-num-a-vail-a-bil-i-ty plus time plus cultivar plus a touch of sunshine."
This is science for sure, but also a whole lot of art. Enjoy the outcome Mother Nature deals!