I know very little about these shurbs. We had one in front of our office and it had rooted a branch and made another plant. I dug it up and planted it at home 3 years ago but still no blooms.
I don't even know what type it is so I will ask for identification first. It grows many stems from the bottom, not a large trunk or two like a Peegee. One year some landscapers who didn't know what they were doing cut back all the stems on the one at the office and it did not bloom the following year. So it obviously blooms on new growth. It is blue.
Can anyone tell me what kind it is and how to cultivate it? I have very acid soil. It was in deep shade but some of the trees around it have been cut now so it will get about 1/2 day of sun/shade. How often and when should it be fertilized? Should I cut off the stems after they bloom (whenever that finally happens)? Should I give it any lime?
I am Hydrangea-challanged
Woody .....and I quote!! "Depending on the type of hydrangea you're growing, you could actually prune away the flower buds. Hydrangeas bloom on either new wood or old wood. The big-leaf hydrangeas (H. macrophylla) and the oak-leaf hydrangeas of the species (H. quercifolia ) bloom on old wood (on branches or stems that grew the previous year); if you prune them, you wouldn't get any flowers the next year.
Smooth hydrangeas (H. arborescens) and peegee hydrangeas (H. paniculata 'Grandiflora') bloom on the current season's growth; pruning them won't diminish their floral display. The best time to prune any hydrangea is late winter to early spring"....unquote!
It seems to me that you have the macrophylla, possibly Nikko Blue, and if the stems are all cut back then you won't get any blooms that year. Pruning should take place after they flower when the dead flower heads can be removed. I leave mine to dry out and use them in dried flower arrangements and also leaving the flowers heads on the plant during the winter months protects the new buds from frost. In which case, you would cut off the dead flowers in the spring being careful not to damage the emerging new growth. Acid soil produces blue flowers and alkaline soil - pink! (For the most part). Exposure to the hot sun never worked for me so I grow mine facing east where they get shade in the afternoon.
Here are a couple of links, the second one from a company's FAQs.
http://www.griffin.peachnet.edu/ga/cobb/Horticulture/Factsheets/hydrangeas/hydrangeas.htm
http://www.hydrangea.com/index.php3?customernumber=79369236814680368259147047122081050273581&pageRequest=FAQ
Woody one last note. They are extremetly easy to propagate either by layering or cuttings. I'm sure you will get the low down on this subject in the links above. Good luck!!
louisa, thank you so much! I am pretty sure now that it is a big leaf or French hydrangea, probably Nikko Blue as you suggested. The article said they like morning sun and afternoon shade, which is exactly what I have now that we cut 3 trees that were interfering with out neighbor's mountain view. I will fertilize it and try to get the mulch where it is not up against the stems. Up above it, I hope to terrace a steep area and grow lots of raspberries, millions of raspberries, zillions of raspberries!!!
And behind that, perhaps a mimosa that I have long for, for over 45 years (since a child when a median on a street in Savannah had double rows of them). Dreaming here.......lol
lol the raspberries!! I take it you make jam!! Lovely. I dug up a small mimosa from a nearby farm about 18 month's ago - with permission - and it must be about 6 feet tall now. I know some think of them as weeds but I just love them. See, I told you we had the same tastes!! :-)
raspberry jam, raspberry cake, raspberry cheesecake, raspberry trifle, raspberry jello, raspberry syrup, raspberry bagels, raspberry english muffins, and raspberries on cereal.
lol - I get the message!!
Those rasberries sound good so long as you don't start blowing rasberries at me!
But 3 years with no blooms? Were you pruning it back? Mine always died back to the ground in the winter and bloomed on mew growth even the first year.
But you mentioned that trees were removed so maybe they just were not getting enough light. I found they did great in dappled shade but not heavy shade. And as Margaret mentioned the bloom color will vary acording to the acidity of your soil. Any additive to alter the color must be added befor the plant forms the buds. so if you want to make the color more intense additives need to be applied as the plant starts to leaf out.
Well, it was a baby. It had rooted on its own from a larger plant. No I have not pruned it because it never bloomed. I did fertilize it and removed the mulch away from against the stems, so we will have to wait and see what happens. Thanks for the help everyone.
Just purchased a root stock of the pink, white, and blue hydrangea hoping to put it in shade under the outside steps that lead to the upstairs deck it's a terrible eyesore (the deck). Glad to hear morning sun and afternoon shades are best because my husband didn't think there would be enough sun there. Any suggestios about planting would be greatly appreciated. Completely new to gardening and in way over my head ordering stuff before I was ready or knew how to care for any of it. Also, bought 20 rootstock rasberry vines red and black and will be getting black thornless rasberry vines from a friend in NC in a couple of weeks. YUM YUM YUM can't wait to get berries, could it happen this year or will it be at least next year?
Do you know the name of your hydrangea?? It will be fine as long as it has enough light, but not hot afternoon sun. It will just wilt and look very sad. However, they do bounce back again if planted in good soil and given enough to drink. In my last garden I also grew them near the deck - facing East with shade from the trees. Now I have their babies and they are growing fast but still no blooms in the past two years, thanks to late frosts - keeping my fingers crossed this year which has been blessed with much needed rain this Spring. As for fruit - haven't got to that stage yet over here but you will find some great advice here from the experts!! Good luck with your new found 'hobby' and welcome to DG!!
Louissa - ordered my hydrangea from plantranch it's blue, white, and pink but that's about all I know. Glad to hear facing east with tree shade in afternoon is good becaus that's where I'm putting it. Hope the difference in our zones doesn't mean that mine won't grow as well as yours has. Thanks, for the info, I'm very glad to have found this site it's probably going to save most of what I bought. Except for the stuff I bought that isn't for my zone. (I didn't even know to check first!) Tracy
Tracy it sounds as though you have the big leaf hydrangea (macrophylla) also known as the French hydrangea!! Are you in the north or south of Indiana?? I read something just now that indicated they might not do too well in the colder clime. They will die down, put on new growth in the Spring but alas no flowers. However, my son grows the Annabel hydrangea in Chicago near a brick wall which protects it and it does wonderfully. Check out the first site and see if it can be of any help to you (scroll down the page for your answers) and then a really good site on the second link.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/ITG_oct02.html
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/
Great Sites! Thanks sooo much, I would have lost for sure. I need protection and fertilizer. Or should I not use fertilizer until after 1st year? As it's coming bareroot. I'll keep reading I'm sure the answeres there somewhere. Tracy
Here's another site - note at the bottom of the page re fertilizer. Just go easy on new plants, less than more is better!!
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/planting_fert.html
I am bumping this thread to report what happened. The hydrangea started blooming last year (it's 3rd year of independent life). It was modest but promising. However, this year, I don't see any blooms at all. After reading over this thread and other regarding hydrangeas, I believe it is because of late frosts. We had 2 late frosts. My roses were leaved out with new growth being about 6 inches long, when frost zapped them. Then it happened again later. So the roses didn't bloom until June instead of May and it was not a spectacular bloom. I guess that's what did the hydrangeas in for this year. The mother plant, which is at my office 1,000 feet lower in altitude, is blooming nicely, but mostly along the backside against a high brick patio. I think frost may have gotten the ones up front.
The cultivar Endless Summer has two blooming periods a year. You might try that one. I would like to add to the advice given earlier. The H. macrophylla will produce lots of small flowers if not pruned until after it flowers. If pruned while dormant, it will produce fewer but larger flowers. I have always pruned my macrophylla hydrangeas while they were dormant.
Guess I ought to report that the hydrangea bloomed profusely this year, so patience matters. I'm glad it doesn't take rooted roses that long to produce. It was actually the 4th year before it had a big bloom year.