I have 2 Hydrangeas...Annabelle and Nikko Blue. They are both 3 years old. Both die back to the ground every winter in Z5 and don't get very big. Maybe only 2' x 3'. Nikko had a couple blossoms last year but thats all and none on Annabelle.:(
They get plenty of water and I fertilize monthly during the growing season.
Heres a pic of my pink "Nikko Blue".
What am I doing wrong?
There is a thread....
http://davesgarden.com/t/399120/
all you ever need to know about hydrangeas...
Good Luck
Thanks for that info. Annabelle is suppose to be hardy in zone 5 but not much luck with it so far.
Annabelle should be fine since it blooms on new growth. If your Nikko Blue is blooming, you are doing everything right since it is dying back to the ground. The pink color can be changed to blue by adding aluminum sulfate, mulching with acid type mulch (pine straw or oak leaves), since the more acidic the soil the bluer the blooms. I just mix a little (about a fourth cup in a gallon of water) and pour over the plant roots a couple of times a year. DON'T OVERDO! I also use the fertilizer for azaleas (like miracle grow). Sometimes the roots won't absorb the aluminum when first planted but change to blue later. This color change doesn't happen quickly. It usually takes a season or two. By the way I think your Nikko is beautiful! Jenny
Jenny, thanks much for the info! :)
Is there any peticular stage during the growing season that is the preferred time to apply the Alum. Sulfate?
My Annabelle has never produced blossoms in 3 years and I see Annabelles in my area blooming every year.
I haven't noticed that it matters when you do it. I would go ahead and give them a dose now so it will be sooner that it starts to work. I did get an Annabelle this summer though it was a cutting that I am growing. Anyway I hope it will bloom. I do know that they like very bright shade. You might want to try and find someone in your area (maybe the county extension agent or a master gardener) who can help. If it were my area I'd say not enough light or too much light. If they are wilting quite often that would be a problem. Have they gotten enough fertilizer? I just don't know why you haven't had blooms unless Annabelle has to be more mature before putting on blooms. Hope this gives you some ideas. Jenny
I have two Annabelles that I got on sale at Wal-Mart last year(they were on deaths door). One is planted on the east side of my front porch(faces north)and one on the west side of the porch. The one on the east side of the porch gets hardly any direct sunlight and is shaded by a rhododendron.The one on the west side gets about 2-3 hours of direct sun in the late afternoon. It is about 1 ft. shorter than the one on the east and definetly not as vigourous as the one getting more shade and not as exposed to westerly winds. In other words...my Annabelles seem to be happiest with cool,damp feet and only slightly sunny heads. I've also read that they should never be allowed to completely dry out.
Hey C_R_Z5, I'm just wondering if you've tried mulchin your hydrangeas really good over the winter? Use an old basket to cover your hydrangeas, then mulch over the top of that. Be sure to remove it at the first signs of warm weather.
You should apply alluminum sulphate in fall and again in spring.
Idieffen, did your Annabelles bloom this year?
TC...
Yes they did bloom,especially the one on the east side of the porch.
Hmmmm....I think my ABelle is getting too much sun and I should transplant it to a shadier location.
TC, thanks for the winter protection tip!
Is anybody growing the new Endless Summer Hydr. in Z5?
I heard its hardy to Z4?!? Is that possible?!
Unless it's really being tortured, I find it hard to believe that Annabelle wouldn't bloom for you... I'm in 5a, and it's so rampant here I'm always tearing it up, and I just stick it in the ground anywhere and it will bloom... makes me wonder if it's really Annabelle that you have. As for Nikko, if it's blooming sparsely, go pull it up and throw it on the compost pile and replace it with Endless Summer, which is what I did. This is Endless Summer that I planted last year, with no winter protection. The only downside is that E.S. might not be as upright as Nikko, and not quite as vigorous, but that may correct with time.
Don
Don I think I'm getting to that point.
Thanks for the lovely photo!
"As for Nikko. . . . go pull it up and throw it on the compost pile."
Oh my Don, don't do that, just send it to me and I'll pay postage. ;~)
TC...
I have a new question. I have a varigated hydrangia that is not getting enough sun and has turned totally green. I have cuttings but although they are getting sun, they are not varigated. Will they eventually return to a varigated leaf or will they remain all green? Any suggestions?
TC,
Oh boy, did you miss out on a mess o' Nikkos that exited this garden last year... nice foliage plant here. I thought it was pretty funny (not!) that our local Lowes advertised recently,coloured hydrangeas that would bloom all summer in our climate, which could ONLY mean E.S., for $25. I went out and they had a whole table full of various macrophyllas that will NEVER bloom here; turns out they had a few E.S. which immediately sold out, and they were then foisting off these other macrophyllas on people, which will not bloom here. I asked the gal at the counter if she would sell me a tool that she knew wouldn't work for me, and she said NO, so I asked her why she then was selling a plant that would never bloom for me... blank look. It's the K-mart parking lot syndrome; acres of evergreen azaleas and hydrangea macrophyllas which will never bloom, or maybe never survive, right off the truck from the wholesale nursery in Alabama. I'm not a big fan of lawsuits, but I'd love to see somebody initiate a class action suit against a big chain for knowingly selling plants that will not survive/bloom in zones4-5... I think if you look at the statistics the three leading sources of refuse in our landfills are #1) wastepaper, #2) food debris, #3) dead evergren azaleas from Kmart.
Don
Don it is a shame that businesses sell non-hardy varieties of plants as hardy but ultimately its up to the consumer to know what he's getting himself into.
Buyer beware.
Rubaln, many variegated plants tend to revert back to plain green. Once they do so, I've never heard of them back to their variegated coloring again. Are any of your leaves variegated? If so, then I would cut out all the solid green branches and encourage the v. ones. I'm in the process (today, actually) of propagating a tray full of the variegated ones, so if you need to, email me in about a month and I'll send you a couple of rooted cuttings.
Pins: Thanks for the response. The plant is 95% green but I found a few varigated branches and am trying to root them. If I don't see roots in about 5 weeks, will e-mail you for a cutting. I have never rooted them before so we'll see. Thanks again for your offer.
Don, Your Endless Summer is wonderful looking. I planted 5 this last spring and they are only doing so so for me. Hope it is just a first year thing. Seem to have some black spots on the leaves and only a few bloooms after the first big flush of them. This is my first expereince with hydrangeas. Wonder if I have them in too much sun? They get almost full sun excpet for a few hours in the mornings. Tag said full to part sun.
Susan
Susan,
It may take several seasons for your plants to produce the way you want them to. I'd wait a couple more years before moving them, if the spot they're in is where you really want them.
TC...
I'm beginning to think I have a mislabeled Annabelle Hydrangea.
I'm going to buy another one in bloom so I know for sure what I'm getting.
Last Fall I put chicken wire around Nikko Blue and stuffed it with oat straw and this year it had several huge blossom albeit they were pink. :-)
Cottage Rose, I grow a variety of hydrangea in zone 5b and yes, if your Annabelle is not producing and growing like crazy, then it was probably mislabeled.
I bought 5 Annabelle about 4 years ago in fall and planted them. Two of the 5 produce the beautiful Annabelle blossoms, which I dry for arrangements once they turn green. The other 3 look similar to the dardom cultivar, but I actually think they were just mislabeled "wild" specimen. (see the picture) The grower is out of business (I tried to call from the number on the tag), and if this is the result of his labor, I know why!!! I'm now starting to dig up the "wrong" bushes and plant them elsewhere around our property, then I'll replace them with true Annabelle's.
I was told afterwards that it's always best to purchase Annabelle in bloom -- that way you know what you're getting. BTW - you can cut Annabelle almost back to the ground in late winter and it should come back to at least 3-4' tall by the time it blooms! You don't have to cut it back, but if you want to control the height, that's the easiest way.
Lynne
Pretty pic Lynne and ~thanks much~ for your iput. ;-)
