Should Hydrangeas be protected from heavy rain? Especially if we want the bloom to be unscathed? I was away from home for a short vacation and the previous night of my return, it had rained very heavily and the flowers seemed to be damaged and drooping. what to do?
Protection from heavy rain?
Dinu there is very little to be done. Once the sun dries the flower heads, they will be OK!!
That is good to hear. It is the most expensive plant I have bought and so I'm a bit worried about its welfare. thanks louisa.
Dinu the hydrangea is quite a robust shrub and even when it takes a lot of punishment it usually recovers. I have sometimes thought mine had died because of the frost, only to sprout again from the soil!!! Yours will be fine!!
Louisa, thanks. It makes me feel so much lighter.
So Dinu, how does your hydrangea look now? Has it dried out and looking sprightly again?
It had become brownish at places and the pink had turned to whitish and the blue is less. The leaves are looking healthy nevertheless. I don't think it has not recovered from the shock yet. More heavy rains are likely in the next couple of weeks. The rain-drops are thick during this time.
If the leaves are healthy you are fine. The flowers will become less blue or even turn pink on you though if the soil is not acidic enough. Treating them to keep eh soil acidic can be a problem during heavy rains that can leach your additives from the soil. so you will need to add more regularly to keep the blooms blue. But the Hydrangea ia a water loving plant and will thrive in the rains. It can take a lot but it will wilt in hours if it dries out. Mine survive our heavy rains and have even survived our seasonal flooding.
The leaves are healthy. Another set of buds are appearing from another branch. The monsoon season is approaching this week, signalling the end of summer. We will have wet days. Since I love blue, I should think of making my hydrangea look blue. Before buying, I didn't know that this changes colours according to soil nutrients. Makes all the more interesting.
Oh yes Dinu, the acidity or alkalinity of the soil determines the colour of your hydrangeas but there are a couple of pink ones that are supposed not to change whatever the soil. Zany is right, they love a good drink!! But the shrub can droop when the sun is at it's hottest, even if the soil is moist - however, they spring back again!!