@Digga that's exactly why they are blue and not white, the pH of the soil; believe it or not, no soil amendment, forest based soil in the mountains as you will see in subsequent images I will post.
Some more from my trip
Day Lilly
Day Lilly
Peonies
Day Lilly
A good example of it starting white but ending up purple, Hydrangea
Managed to capture an example of why the Appalachians have the nickname of the Great Smoky Mountains...the "smoke", in a later image you will see three peaks in the distance when there is no "smoke", taken from the deck of my dad's place.