Hydrangeas and the Science of Do-Overs

We tried to use chemistry to change hydrangea flowers from red to blue. It didn’t work the first time, so we tried again. Science: It’s all about the do-over. Because experiments aren’t just for fun -- the whole point is to learn something about the world around us!


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Credits:
Producer: Elaine Seward
Writer: Alexa Billow
Scientific Consultants: Henry Schreiber, PhD; Michelle Boucher, PhD
Executive Producer: George Zaidan
Fact Checkers: Alison Le
Music: Hard Boiled

Sources:
https://www.americanscientist.org/article/curious-chemistry-guides-hydrangea-colors
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21584711
https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/trees-and-shrubs/how-to-change-hydrangea-color
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jafc.5b02368?src=recsys
http://www.jstor.org/stable/24108670?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC158226/pdf/1131033.pdf
https://www.americanscientist.org/author/henry_schreiber

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