I just bought two beautiful Hydrangeas & need your help growing these. Sun or Shade? Do you prune them? Also what r the names of them. Anything else you can tell me about them would greatly be appreciated.
KK
Please help me to grow this beautiful plants
They're Hydrangea macrophylla.
They will like some morning sun, but your summers are hot enough that they'll definitely need afternoon shade.
They don't necessarily need to be pruned every year, but if you do want to prune them you should prune them right after they bloom. Most cultivars bloom on old wood, so if you prune too late in the fall (or in winter or spring before they bloom) you will cut off the flower buds. There are a few cultivars that bloom on new wood but if these didn't come with a label telling you which cultivar they are I doubt that's what you have (the rebloomers for the most part are patented & trademarked and wouldn't be sold without a tag telling you what cultivar they are).
Another thing to be aware of is that the flower color will change based on soil pH, acidic soil will give you blue blooms and alkaline soil will give you pink. So you'll plant them in your garden and because of that, next year's flower colors may be different than what you see here. If you have pink and prefer blue or vice versa there are things you can do to amend the soil to change the color. The "in between" color on the one that has some blue & some pink can be tricky to achieve--some people get lucky and their soil gives them that look, but for the most part you'll have to decide whether you want pink or you want blue.
Thank you very much ecrane3 that is a big help. I am hoping they will be beautiful no matter what color they are. Your help is greatly appreciated.
KK
I think they're pretty blue or pink...and since my soil turns them pink I just leave them alone. Seems like a lot of people always want the opposite color of what they get naturally so they spend time every year amending the soil to change the pH...I'm way too lazy for that!
Those are beauties. ecrane is correct about all of it. One thing I would be aware of is the difference between an greenhouse hydrangea and a landscape hydrangea. It's not a difference in cultivars but a difference in upbringing. Your two plants were forced to bloom in a greenhouse so they would sell now. All the outside landscape hydrangeas are just leafing out now in your area. So you may want to baby these newbies for a season and let them focus on developing the rest of the plant structure. It takes a lot of energy to make those big blooms. I have made the mistake of planting potted hydrangeas that were sold as gift plants from a place like a grocery store or Lowe's. They were just too stressed and not prepared to live in the ground. I recommend repotting them in a pretty container with drainage holes and putting the pot either on your patio, or in the yard where you want to plant them, under the same conditions that ecrane discribed. Then you can keep an eye on them for the summer and plant them with confidence in the fall. Just a thought.