fertilizing flowers

My ground tests fairly alkaline. Would it be good to fertilize with Miracle-gro made for the acid loving plants?
Thanks.

It depends on what you're fertilizing. Also, fertilizer for acid loving plants doesn't necessarily change the acidity of the soil, it's just formulated for plants that prefer acidic soil. It's kind of like how you'd feed cat food to your cat and dog food to your dog because their formulated respectively. However, you could very well feed dog food to your cat and it would be okay, just not accepted as well. Regardless, Miracle-Gro is rarely the answer so, you tell us your plants and we'll tell you what kind of fertilizer (and possibly soil acidifier) to use.

I have an Endless Summer Hydrangea, plus Forever Together and Blue Bunny. They are mixed in with some Hostas, some new Japanese Maples, ferns and a few other perennials and annuals. The garden is partly shady with mostly mid-day sun. I have never been able to grow coleus or hellebores--I figured because of the high pH. I didn't realize that the Miracle-gro didn't lower the pH. . . I have used some aluminum, but was afraid of killing the plants by adding too much.
Thanks for any info you can give me.
Pat

Aluminum sulfate is typically what we use to acidify soil though its application rate will depend on what kind of soil you have so it may just be trial and error for you. See if your local extension service does soil testing. Maybe they can give you a recommendation.

The plants you have listed are not heavy feeders and should not need major amounts of fertilizer. Besides, they're getting ready to go dormant and do not need much right now; just a snack before bedtime :) A well-balanced, slow-release, granular fertilizer is usually best. I prefer Espoma products like PlantTone and HollyTone because they're difficult to over-apply and have micronutrients that a lot of other brands leave out. Save the MiracleGro for your annuals. The Japanese maples however should not be fed anything other than BioTone or some other root stimulator if they were recently planted. You want them to make roots but giving them Nitrogen might encourage them to make leaves instead.

One last thing about pH. Changing your soil's pH is a constant battle so it's better to just plant what's best for your soil. Having said that, you could always choose a spot for those things you want to try and work extra hard to bring the pH down to the proper levels in that spot alone. Try pine bark fines/soil conditioner (which is naturally acidic) to help you out. If you can't find those try locating a bag of pine bark mulch and compost it over the winter so that it breaks down into the good stuff :)

Thanks for all the information. I'll try some of those ideas.
Pat