I would like to try a few hydrangeas down here in hot, humid SE Louisiana. I was wondering about planting them against the house on the south side. Does anyone have them on a southern exposure? Any advice on a particular cultivar would also be appreciated. Summer is brutal here but for the last two years, the winters have had hard freezes in the low 20s and even a few in the high teens. Any thoughts?
Southern Exposure?
They won't do well with afternoon sun in a climate like yours. I assume your southern exposure has PM sun so I would look for another type of plant to put there. H. paniculata and H. arborescens I think can take more sun than H. macrophylla but depending on how many hours of PM sun you have there it might be too much for them too
The only one hydrangea that I have with a southern exposure is there because it is shaded by a pergola. The main problem here in the South is that the leaves sunscorch during the summer time. While the sun is not strong to damage them at other times, in June-August the leaves can turn all yellowish or all whiteish, including the leaf veins. Should that start to happen with the leaves in direct contact with the sun, you can transplant the hydrangea or erect a structure that will provide shade. If you can regularly provide shade somehow, that could work. Here is what one hydrangea lover did in California using 70% shade cloth:
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn238/wesleyforbes/Hydrangea2010/Hydrangea2010019.jpg
I also have some azaleas on a southern exposure protected by an iron structure where a wisteria and two rose climbers intertwine; the structure provides shade in the afternoon. It is an experiment at this point but hopefully you get the idea....
Does that help you?
Luis
Yes Luis it does. I was thinking that the shadow of the house would provide some protection in the afternoon since the sun is setting in a northwest direction during summer. But they may sit there and get scorched in mid-day during the peak of the season. I suppose there's no need to put them through that. I'll wait until I get a bed in on the east side of the house.
I had huge hydrangeas in my shady back yard in Tennessee and I sure do mis them.