Need help with new plant

[marcosmom]

I received a small blue hydrangea plant as a gift recently and need to keep it alive until planting next season. It's already is looking bad with yellow leaves falling off and not very blue color. I suspect I'm not watering it enough. It's in an appropriately lit spot in my kitchen. Any advice to keep it alive the winter would be appreciated. Thanks.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Florist's hydrangeas have not been vernalized (over-wintered) and having been raised in a green house can be fussy at first. I'd keep up with the watering; virtually impossible to overwater a hydrangea. It may just be a photoperiod change (difference in light conditions); that is often a precursor to leaf drop in many plants. Keep it watered, keep an eye on it, and above all else DON'T PANIC ...

Scott