Hydrangeas are obviously suffering. Temperatures here are in the 103-106 range daily. About 84 degrees by 6:30am. Sigh. I went out with my Mother to Walgreens and Walmart and the temps had gone down to 105 at 8pm today. Lord!
Hydrangeas will need probably about 3 watering per day, may brown out some leaves and can even loose some flower buds that develop starting in July. Some may die. Heat stress can also make paniculatas' inner leaves turn yellow and drop as if we were in the Fall and they were going dormant. Feel free to water at a rate of 1.5 gallons per watering instead of just 1 gallon. Maintain mulch at 4", water the soil early in the mornings and extend the mulch way past the drip line if you are suffering from this heat wave. These (temporary) larger and extra waterings should be ok if your soil drains well.
I am having to manually water extra some shrubs when I wake up at this ungodly time of the night (my normal wake up time is 5am). I lost one native azalea already and an Encore Azalea is looking puny. Some camellias are unhappy with the situation. A maple tree is wilting. Roses have stopped blooming at all. Hmm, that reminds me that should normally be deadheading the spent blooms on the roses... but ... it so hot that I will leave the spent blooms "on" because I do not want the shrubs using their stressed condition to flower. Better that they survive instead.
Lawns around here look parched. A weak green with many areas yellowed out. I saw someone watering during lunch (it is better to do this at 6amish) and also saw a landscaper watering a tree in a lot where the house was razed and the lot put up for sale.
Do not fertilize when a plant is stressed out for whatever reason. The only exception would be if the plant is in a pot.
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, ... , all the way east to Georgia can sure use more moisture. Look at the map below!
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
How is it going over where you live? Hope the tropical disturbance in the Gulf comes this way!
Luis
Hi Luis!
This is a timely topic for me. We put in several plants at the beginning of July and have actually (knock on wood) been pretty lucky keeping them alive so far. I have a drip system on everything, which no doubt helps tremendously.
I had planted the hydrangeas on the east side of the house thinking that that would be shaded from all but the morning sun. It's not. I had planted a Let's Dance Starlight, a Let's Dance Moonlight, and a Blushing Bride. I now have umbrellas that shade the area somewhat and the Blushing Bride is in the shade under the umbrella all but the earliest morning hours. The shade doesn't reach so well to the moonlight, but it was the biggest, most robust of the three when I planted. I am also having trouble with poor drainage,
which is disappointing because I actually hired a company to come prepare the beds and they said I had good soil... So I am trying to figure out how often to water and when.
The Starlight remains tiny and has a couple of little blooms in the middle of the bush. The rest are not blooming at all, and the Bride looks pretty bad.
I had come to the forum this morning to ask whether I should trim it (the Blushing Bride) back a bit. It is quite leggy now with very light green foliage. The newest leaves on the ends are the greenest, and it has actually put out some new leaves. I guess to make up for the ones that have fallen off... Or is it better when the plant is so stressed to just leave it be?
And the butterfly bushes have yelowish green leaves and the flowerspikes are stunted.
Thanks for the tip about not fertilizing and for the link to the drought map - very interesting.
I am in Bartlesville, about an hour north of Tulsa and we have actually had rain once this month that lasted an afternoon and then again most of the next morning. Otherwise we had a sprinkle yesterday morning, so we are better off than much of the surrounding area, but temperatures have been brutal.
Good luck down there! Do you have a ban on watering lawns there?
This is a timely topic for me. We put in several plants at the beginning of July and have actually (knock on wood) been pretty lucky keeping them alive so far. I have a drip system on everything, which no doubt helps tremendously.
I had planted the hydrangeas on the east side of the house thinking that that would be shaded from all but the morning sun. It's not. I had planted a Let's Dance Starlight, a Let's Dance Moonlight, and a Blushing Bride. I now have umbrellas that shade the area somewhat and the Blushing Bride is in the shade under the umbrella all but the earliest morning hours. The shade doesn't reach so well to the moonlight, but it was the biggest, most robust of the three when I planted. I am also having trouble with poor drainage,
which is disappointing because I actually hired a company to come prepare the beds and they said I had good soil... So I am trying to figure out how often to water and when. The Starlight remains tiny and has a couple of little blooms in the middle of the bush. The rest are not blooming at all, and the Bride looks pretty bad.
I had come to the forum this morning to ask whether I should trim it (the Blushing Bride) back a bit. It is quite leggy now with very light green foliage. The newest leaves on the ends are the greenest, and it has actually put out some new leaves. I guess to make up for the ones that have fallen off... Or is it better when the plant is so stressed to just leave it be?
And the butterfly bushes have yelowish green leaves and the flowerspikes are stunted.
Thanks for the tip about not fertilizing and for the link to the drought map - very interesting.
I am in Bartlesville, about an hour north of Tulsa and we have actually had rain once this month that lasted an afternoon and then again most of the next morning. Otherwise we had a sprinkle yesterday morning, so we are better off than much of the surrounding area, but temperatures have been brutal.
Good luck down there! Do you have a ban on watering lawns there?
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luis_pr
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Under normal conditions, you can water when a finger inserted to a depth of 4" feels almost dry or dry. Water early in the morning; about 1 gallon of water to 1.5 gallons of water per watering is fine. Remember to keep them well mulched (3-4") as this will keep the soil moist longer although the top mulch may look dry.
Hot temperatures such as we now have tend to make the leaves loose moisture fast with the slightest hot breeze, making the shrub abort flower buds, blooms and leaves. The tendency os to water more but a wind break would be cheaper and help more. I have an ugly large piece of old wood helping one struggling bush.
Is the BB looking badder as time passes or did it look bad until you added the umbrellas? If the damage is not getting worse, I would let it be. If it continues, I would trim such weirdly, trying to keep as many green (or green-brown) leaves as possible. So you may trim one stem to one height and trim the next to a different height. Weird looking. The reason is that you still need the leaves to do photosynthesis. But if things continue getting worse, it may be necessary to trim so the part of the shrub above the ground does not need as much water as it currently needs because its current small roots may be unable to supply that much water.
We actually had a trace of rain on Tuesday. Lasted the length of two interstate exits! Sigh.... Very tiny drops. It evaporated quickly.
We do not have a watering ban (yet). We have restrictions to force us to water at night. This area is one of the best in the map.
Hot temperatures such as we now have tend to make the leaves loose moisture fast with the slightest hot breeze, making the shrub abort flower buds, blooms and leaves. The tendency os to water more but a wind break would be cheaper and help more. I have an ugly large piece of old wood helping one struggling bush.
Is the BB looking badder as time passes or did it look bad until you added the umbrellas? If the damage is not getting worse, I would let it be. If it continues, I would trim such weirdly, trying to keep as many green (or green-brown) leaves as possible. So you may trim one stem to one height and trim the next to a different height. Weird looking. The reason is that you still need the leaves to do photosynthesis. But if things continue getting worse, it may be necessary to trim so the part of the shrub above the ground does not need as much water as it currently needs because its current small roots may be unable to supply that much water.
We actually had a trace of rain on Tuesday. Lasted the length of two interstate exits! Sigh.... Very tiny drops. It evaporated quickly.
We do not have a watering ban (yet). We have restrictions to force us to water at night. This area is one of the best in the map.
Hmmmmm, I wish I could stick my finger into the soil 4 inches, but I can't. The soil is heavy clay, which the guys amended with only a few inches of soil and compost. I am tempted to dig the plants up this winter and really amend the beds properly, down to a reasonable depth.
I will go ponder the plant when it cools down some this evening. There may be some newer growth in by the main stems - I hope. But mainly I have mostly bare stems with a few leaves at the end and the very end/tip leaves look the best. The part that's looking worse is that the leaves that originally were burned are mostly falling off now, so the plant looks very straggly.
Hoping for some cooler days....
I will go ponder the plant when it cools down some this evening. There may be some newer growth in by the main stems - I hope. But mainly I have mostly bare stems with a few leaves at the end and the very end/tip leaves look the best. The part that's looking worse is that the leaves that originally were burned are mostly falling off now, so the plant looks very straggly.
Hoping for some cooler days....
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luis_pr
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"I will go ponder the plant when it cools down some this evening."
Oh man! Does that mean you will go outside around 11pm when the temperatures finally go down to 99?
Hee hee hee! Oh lord. I go outside between 3-4am to water plants because it is not as hot and it still is uncomfortable at 82. I feel like sticking my tongue out like a dog 
when I am done watering.
Oh man! Does that mean you will go outside around 11pm when the temperatures finally go down to 99?
Hee hee hee! Oh lord. I go outside between 3-4am to water plants because it is not as hot and it still is uncomfortable at 82. I feel like sticking my tongue out like a dog when I am done watering.Hmmmmm, it doesn't get light here till later than 4:30.... I go out in the evening once the sun is not shining directly on the back yard (east side of the house) just to make sure everyone survived the day.
Do you know whether there is a difference between watering once a day in the morning or once a day in the late afternoon/evening?
I also cut off some of the worse-looking stems on the hydrangea (Bride) yesterday. It has some teensy new growth at the bottom on a couple of branches and the leaves are looking less yellowed now that the umbrella is in place all day and I have stopped flooding the poor thing.
Now if I could just figure out how to make the butterfly bushes green again instead of yellow.
Do you know whether there is a difference between watering once a day in the morning or once a day in the late afternoon/evening?
I also cut off some of the worse-looking stems on the hydrangea (Bride) yesterday. It has some teensy new growth at the bottom on a couple of branches and the leaves are looking less yellowed now that the umbrella is in place all day and I have stopped flooding the poor thing.
Now if I could just figure out how to make the butterfly bushes green again instead of yellow.
Thanks for the post Luis. I had been wondering if I should water more. Most of my hydrangeas have scorched leaves. I've been water every other day but was contemplating every day. So you thing 3 times a day will be fine? This heat is unbearable for us, I can only imagine what those poor plants are going through!
I'll water daily - thanks!
I'll water daily - thanks!
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luis_pr
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I know what you mean. Mine are suffering too. If your soil drains well, they should be able to handle it; just stop watering a lot once temps go down. But do not forget to mulch, mulch, mulch. About 3-4"; I add it about 6" after the drip zone due to times like this.
Drip irrigation sometimes leaves gaps or does not reach well near the top few inches of the soil. With those new hydrangeas, they need water where the roots are and some/many roots could be nearer the top inches of the soil. Since I too have drip where the hydrangeas are, I like to water the mulch so the soil around the hydrangeas will be more humid. I just added some more mulch on Sunday and watered last night at 10pm. Hot even for 10pm! Whew!
Even with all the extra moisture and mulch, some shrubs may struggle. I already lost some mums, a native azalea and a viburnum.
Add wind breaks if the area is windy. The light winds that we get in the summer will cause the shrubs to loose moisture easily when the temperatures are in the 100s.
Most plants go dormant at hot times like this. Even my knockout roses stopped blooming! The only things blooming around here are Crape Myrtles and a wisteria.
Drip irrigation sometimes leaves gaps or does not reach well near the top few inches of the soil. With those new hydrangeas, they need water where the roots are and some/many roots could be nearer the top inches of the soil. Since I too have drip where the hydrangeas are, I like to water the mulch so the soil around the hydrangeas will be more humid. I just added some more mulch on Sunday and watered last night at 10pm. Hot even for 10pm! Whew!
Even with all the extra moisture and mulch, some shrubs may struggle. I already lost some mums, a native azalea and a viburnum.
Add wind breaks if the area is windy. The light winds that we get in the summer will cause the shrubs to loose moisture easily when the temperatures are in the 100s.
Most plants go dormant at hot times like this. Even my knockout roses stopped blooming! The only things blooming around here are Crape Myrtles and a wisteria.
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teachermom1
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I put in two hydrangeas this year in a big ugly open spot behind my garage - so they are on the north wall. I wondered when I did it if it would be too shady, but now I'm glad. I'm watering daily, otherwise they droop badly. But as long as I am vigilant about watering, they are doing fine. One is growing at a fast rate and has 4 huge heads of blooms, they are gorgeous. The other is growing more slowly and only has one small head blooming. I think it is the most shaded.
My biggest problem is that I think I am starting to get some fungal disease setting in with the high humidity and water backsplash - blackspot and rust maybe? I don't know much about the diseases that attack hydrangeas, these are my first ones.
My biggest problem is that I think I am starting to get some fungal disease setting in with the high humidity and water backsplash - blackspot and rust maybe? I don't know much about the diseases that attack hydrangeas, these are my first ones.
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luis_pr
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A picture might help but leaf spot is common at this time of the year. But is almost not worth applying fungicides since the shrub will be going formant right afterwards. Make sure that you water the soil early in the mornings, not the leaves. Watering the leaves promotes these fungal infections so keep it at a minimum. Instead of watering every day, try adding more mulch. About 3-4" thru or past the drip line. It may reduce the frequency of the waterings and the humidity levels that promote fungal infections. These frequent waterings could end up causing root rot (if the soil does not drain well) so try to limit them if you can.
Hydrangeas droop or wilt often -especially on the first few years in the garden- during the worst of the summer; it is sort of a defense mechanism. But if they are properly watered, they should recover on their own by the next morning (sometimes even by nightfall). If they still remain wilted in the morning, you can water them. But rule number one should always be to water them immediately if the wilting episode looks extreme. If you see them wilted, you can insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4" to check the soil moisture. If it feels dry or almost dry then water them right a way.
Hydrangeas droop or wilt often -especially on the first few years in the garden- during the worst of the summer; it is sort of a defense mechanism. But if they are properly watered, they should recover on their own by the next morning (sometimes even by nightfall). If they still remain wilted in the morning, you can water them. But rule number one should always be to water them immediately if the wilting episode looks extreme. If you see them wilted, you can insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4" to check the soil moisture. If it feels dry or almost dry then water them right a way.
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teachermom1
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teachermom1
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