The best hydrangeas in the city are grown by King Louis Flowers and Plants, Inc. They are the source. I am sharing one of my favorite suppliers from my “black book” because of the number of times friends and family have asked me to identify my source of these spectacular plants and blooms. Grown in farms near Baguio, the hydrangeas are in “season” from January through about June of each year here in the Philippines.

Two years ago my daughter was to receive first communion and I volunteered to help decorate the church with flowers. I tracked down the main office of King Louis at the Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon City and placed an order for over 50 pots of live hydrangea plants, each with roughly 4-5 enormous blooms. When I went to the office to pick up the flowers, I was simply stunned by the quality of blooms. I had first pick from a shipment that had just minutes before gotten in from Baguio. The General Manager, Mr. Francis Gener, was extremely helpful and accommodating. He explained that they also grew thousands of poinsettias for the holiday season as well as chrysanthemums, snapdragons and other flowers. They also had an extensive selection of potted plants.

We arranged at least 25 pots of hydrangeas around the church altar and in baskets along the aisles. We cut the rest of the hydrangea blooms and added several hundred roses and carnations from the wholesale market at Dimasalang to make several large arrangements that were placed on wooden stands along the main aisle of the church. One of these arrangements is pictured here (scanned photo so not too clear). The base of the arrangement was made with overlapping hydrangea leaves around the glass vase beneath. We knew the arrangements had made their impression when several of the guests actually siddled up to them and felt up the blooms to see if they were real… so tacky, no?

Anyway, back to the supplier. King Louis now has a retail outlet that opened at Market!Market! Mall in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. It is the stall nearest the main entrance of the mall and beside the spurting water fountain. It is sufficient if you only need a couple of pots but I must say that the best stuff does not seem to make it to this outlet. Worse, on the last three visits, I was less than impressed with the quality of staff manning the booth. Maybe I am just spoiled but if you need wholesale quantities go to the source at the Manila Seedling Bank. It’s definitely worth the effort. Buy these plants anywhere else and chances are they have added a large mark-up to the wholesale price. Depending on the number of blooms, wholesale prices range from P400-650 per pot. The telephone number I have for King Louis is 9294105.

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We have had smaller hydrangeas (locally known as milflores for their seemingly thousands of blooms) in the Philippines for many decades. They thrive in cooler climates such as Baguio, Tagaytay and some cooler regions of Mindanao. Not a native to the Philippines, the flowers of the localized plants have become smaller and smaller — though they still look stunning when massed together. The native plants are often sold at roadside stands and farmer’s markets and recent prices are roughly P75-150 per pot depending on your haggling skills. Most native plants are blue or purplish in color.

Recently, a number of growers in Davao and the Mountain Province started cultivating imported hybrids of hydrangeas with simply spectacular results. Raised in greenhouses and under controlled conditions, precise potting mediums and abundant water, the growers have managed to raise plants with huge blooms in dark and light pink, blue, lavender and even some dark green.

The stunning blue specimens at right were purchased at the FTI market at just P50 per stem. They were apparently cut from a very mature plant raised in the Baguio area and the owner had agreed to sell the blooms in one fell swoop. With blooms at least 10 inches in diameter, these are among my finest market finds of the year. On another visit, I found nearly chartreuse colored potted hydrangeas (actually immature flowers that had yet to take on color) at top for about P80-100 a plant which was also quite reasonable.

While hydrangeas are notoriously fickle, I find they are well worth the bother. If you purchase already cut blooms or cut your potted plants, make sure the blooms get a LOT of fresh water to keep them happy. If they wilt, try plunging the entire flower head in cool water for 2-3 hours and they should recover. I find that fresh flowers last 5-6 days if well cared for.

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