mhorn617
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:56 pm
Location: Ulysses, KY

confusing hydrangea

ok I am fairly new to hydrangeas. in 2007 my grandmother passed and one of the flowers given at the wake was a potted hydrangea. I brought it home and transplanted it to my garden. weve not really done anything to it. my husband may have cut the dead stems off the first couple of years but two years ago someone told us not to do that so we let them be. the past two summers the leaves are so pretty and green but we have only had one bloom. as far as I can tell it is a mophead or lacecap. blue in color. I would like to know what we need to do to make it produce more blooms. do we prune? and if so how much do we cut back? what type of fertilizer do we use and how often? thanks very much

luis_pr
Greener Thumb
Posts: 824
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:31 am
Location: Hurst, TX USA Zone 7b/8a

Hello, Melissa. It sounds as if this hydrangea is what we call "a florist hydrangea". It is not winter hardy to your geographical location. When a hydrangea is planted out of zone, winter winds dry out and winter temperatures freeze the flower buds and the stems.

As a result, when leaf out time arrives in spring, there is little leaf out happening on the stems and most of the new growth comes from the base or crown.

I suggest you provide some winter protection in the fall when the plant goes dormant. Encircle the shrub with chicken wire that is slightly wider and taller than the stems are (say by 4 or more inches). Then fill the inside of the chicken wire with dried out leaves, . Pack them good and top with some carboard and rocks that will prevent the cardboard from flying off. Unused leaves can stored elsewhere (30 gallon plastic bags) since you may need to add more leaves in mid-winter due to settling of the leaves.

You should also make sure the shrub gets no fertilizers after July-ish/August-ish so new growth will not get zapped by early frosts and so the plant will go dormant in time for the start of winter. About 3-4 inches of mulch up to the drip line will keep the roots moist and comfy.

Another alternative is to grow it in pots instead of growing it in the ground. Then bring the pots indoors when the shrub goes dormant in the Fall. While indoors, water it every two weeks.

You can bring the potted shrub out (or you can remove the leaves) about two weeks after your average date of last frost in spring.

Luis



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