Hydrangea paniculata \"Strawberry Vanilla\"

Well I have killed my 4 year old shrub! I was doing some pruning to cut it back 1/3 and noticed holes where it had been pruned in the past. I cut an adjoining branch and found a hole down the center of the branch and an tiny black ant or two crawled out. As i continued to prune I found it all through the plant so I cut it back to good wood-- not much left. Has anyone else seen this? What causes it? Zone 7B Georgia
Thanks

Poor you. I have so wanted to see a Hydrangea paniculata Strawberry Vanilla in full bloom. The photos look too good to be true!

Sounds like you have borers. I had borers on my apricot tree years ago and had to spray the ground around the tree in spring I think just before they came out to live in the ground. LOL It was years ago and my memory may not be accurate.

If your bush was not grafted, it may well sprout lots of new shoots. You best get rid off all the clippings in case there are borers in them. I would take an example of the damage and put in plastic bag. Go to your best nursery and get their advice as to what you can use to destroy any that are left.

I found this
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/causes-round-holes-hydrangea-branches-35930.html

This might help.
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/files/ent43_0.pdf

Good luck!
Photo from HGTV

Thanks I didn't think of borers! The shrub was not grafted but there is not much left so it is up in the air as ti whether it will survive. I do need to destroy the clippings. There are other similar shrubs near by. Yikes

Had the plant shown any symptoms that it was sick? I suspect there was nothing wrong with it. The deadwood of hyrangeas sometimes hollows out. About 70% of the time, the best remedy is to do nothing and see what happens.

Borers have been known to get into hydrangea stems but, like kolomikta said, the old dead stems tend to hollow out. Not just paniculatas but the others as well. Feel free to cut dead wood all the way down at any time.

I want a VS or its compact version, Strawberry Sundae, too but watch out... in warm locations, it blooms just as temperatures are at their hottest. As a result, the blooms go directly from white to brown even if I keep the soil evenly moist. The best performance I have seen is when it managed to eek a little white to pink and then went to brown. Sigh. It was developed in France, in a location where this is not an issue (temps rarely get to the hot 90s). Hope they can develop one that blooms earlier or later and still goes white-pink-magenta-brown.

This message was edited May 26, 2019 11:34 AM

Since most ailing hydrangea symptoms are foliar, the number one cause is usually fungal. Leaf spots caused by Cercospora, Alternaria, Phyllosticta or Anthracnose stem from a fungal disease. They are most prevalent in moist conditions, although some occur in warm periods, while others form in cooler temperatures.

Preventing water from remaining on leaves and treating with a good fungicide will usually conquer the problem.

I've consulted with one of the flower owners here in Belgrade and they claim that could be a common problem :/

Hope this helps.

- Gordana