Climbing Hydrangea - not blooming

I have had it for 4 years and it is spreading up the brickface of the house and along the ground.
It seems very happy but has never bloomed.

It is in a garden with lots of compost and mulch and faces northwest. Part of the plant gets about 6 hours of late morning to afternoon sun and some gets about 4 hours of mid afternoon sun.

A strange thing is that a true Hydrangea (unknown species) which is is the same bed and appears healthy also has not bloomed for two years; although when I bought the plant it was blooming.

Any ideas?

Rox, I think it may take up to 7 years for this plant to bloom. I tried growing the white and the pink and they had miserable deaths. They don't like my area, too hot, I guess. I say that if it's spreading, you are in good shape.

OK, I'll wait.

If you ever want to try again, let me know and I will send you some. As it creeps along the ground it roots, so I can easilty find some rooted cuttings.
ROX

Rox, you know, I planted a climbing hyd. a few years ago and it hasn't bloomed either. It is in full sun tho. Tho it is behind dahlias in the sumer time mostly.
It has grown leaps and bounds but so far no blooms. I would love to know why too. I asked the guy I had gotten it from and he says it should blooms. So if it doesn't bloom this year,
I am going to have to move it to along a fence where it will get afternoon shade and see if that works. I may just take a cutting of it with roots and move it this spring to see if that will work too.
I am interested if anyone else has ideas on getting it to bloom too.
Carol

I have been reading more about this...
From what I have read, it seems that they will bloom in full sun or partial shade, with more blooms in full sun. I have also read that it can take several years (>5) for them to bloom.
Everyone says it is worth the wait.

But I would say this. If you do want another plant, might as well establish it now because it may take awhile.
ROX

Mine was planted in 2000 and has had only 3 blooms so far - one more in 2005 than 2004. So I have my fingers crossed for 2006. It faces due west, so gets plenty of direct afternoon sun. I have another (which was transplanted from it's 2000 planting spot in 2002) that faces east and has never bloomed. I have a clematis planted "in" it that is giving me the color I'd been hoping for in that spot. As you've said, though, they are both growing by leaps and bounds every year, just not blooming.

I love the idea of planting the clematis in the hydrangea. I will definitely try this!
ROX

Yes, that isn't a bad idea. I just may do that too.
Carol

As pretty as the hydrangea foliage is, I've been content with the many clematis blooms as compensation for the hydrangea not blooming. But one of the two blooms I had last year actually lasted for a couple of months! So once the hydrangea begins blooming for real, it should be really stunning with the clematis.

I have two petiolaris (many years) and neither of them bloom more than a few little blooms and I think it is because they are in shade....I have seen them in full sun and they are spectacular. I also have a Schizophragma which is in shade and bloomed beautifully for the first time last summer..(15 years it took!) "They" always list the climbing Hydrangea in the shady section and everyone believes it is a shade vine.....I believe it is a sun vine. I have also seen pruned to a shrub and that may make it bloom a little better.

Well, guess I will try it in both areas then to see who wins the blooming contest. Pruning might be a key too. Thanks, levilyla.
Carol

I think my plant is setting up its own contest. 1/2 in and 1/2 out of shade; it is growing in a Y pattern at the corner of the house. Is there a chance that 1/2 will bloom before the other?

Even if it isn't blooming yet, it is fun to see it rambling along in multiple directions. It also likes to creep along the ground.
ROX

yes I believe the 1/2 in sun will do better....it is really a very agressive vine once it gets going. I enjoy it even with no blooms (that is until I see one with!)

It is aggressive, but compared to my wisteria is a fine mannered plant.

Then again my wisteria blooms and even reblooms!
ROX

well now wisteria is another story...mine does not bloom except maybe every other year...very depressing and I know it is because there is not enough sun...I want all these sun things in my shade garden...when will I ever learn?

Many Wisteria are actually notorious for blooming every other year (or really alternating years of heavy blooming with few blooms).
They also tend to rebloom when stressed; like this summer with the drought.

If you want to try the clematis with the climbing hydrangea idea, try Clematis terniflora.

It is floriferous, doesn't mind neglect, blooms the first year and mine blooms with only a few hours of afternoon sun.

By the way, those of use with mostly sun have burned many a fern, so I totally understand about plating what you want rather than what I probably should.
ROX

Climbing Hydrangeas are susceptible to fungus in our area. Check the plant, and if you use chemicals, try CONSAN, a mild fungicide. In a public garden where I do volunteer work, we had one in the shade and one in the sun as part of a small experiment - neither were blooming. Then the fungus was discovered, treated with Consan, and now both have bloomed the last two years. We hand spray the plants in early spring. I can't say there is a scientific basis for the connection between the spraying and the blooming, but that's what's happened. It may be worth a try.

I'll definitely check the plant for fungus.
ROX

I have two climbing hydrangeas. One grows on a northfacing stockade fence and blooms profusely and has since year two. It threatens to take over the garden. I have to literally rip it out in some places. It acts like a trupmet vine for rampant growth. It has pushed between the boards on the fence and grown through to the other side and has forced the wood apart! The fence is smooth so the vine really doesnt have anything rough to cling to so it is sort of free standing and leaning at the same time. The second one is is three years old with no blooms at all. It is planted at the base of an 80+ft oak. Vine growth is good. The base of the vine faces south and gets sun from 1:00 pm on. The problem I have with this one is the squirrels. They run up and down the trunk of the oak and tear up the vine in the process. It is hard to tell if lack of sun or varmint damage is retarding the blooming. The soil here is ph 6.5 sandy (very sandy) loam. All hydrangeas thrive here with little care. The only limiting factor is the zone 5 cold winter temperatures.

Talk about wisteria not blooming. Mine is about 12 years old and gets full
sun. In the past 2 years I may have had a total of 6 blooms and this plant
you can imagine is huge now. The plant is very healthy and has spread
to other parts of the planting area. I have a 40' pine tree that it has already
jumped to and is nearly to the top. I have given up on it ever really blooming
like I have seen in the wild and in pictures. I have done almost every
trick in the book to no avail.

Angela

I gave up on my wisteria - 15 years and no blooms no matter what trick I pulled on it!!! The only thing it was trying to do was destroy the fence and choke everything around it. It got ripped out and composted!

As for the Hydrangea - my bushes do well. I would be interested in the vine. I'll have to research that one a bit.

Anitabryk2-
I can probably find a rooted cutting of my climbing hydragea for you if you want it in the Spring. Just let me know.
ROX

Rox - I would love one!! Thank you! We'll touch base in the spring!!

Anita

My climbing Hydrangea took 3 years. It was in full shade on thesouthwest corner of my garden, but neighbors on either side did extensive tree and shrub removal. Now it is in part shade. Last year, it bloomed like crazy. It is stubborn though, and does not want to climb. One shoot is climbing and the four others are crawling around on the ground.

My Scizophragma bloomed last year too. One miserable bloom, and it turned kind of brown soon after. It is planted on the northwest side of a Maple tree. It has never grown, and I think it might be stuck in a pocket of soil between the roots of the tree. I will transplant this year if I get the chance.

Part of mine is also creeping along, very stubornly. But it is also rooting, so I plant to split and transplant.

Hope you transplant does well.
ROX

This will be my eighth spring. Nada. Nice growth halfway up east facing garage wall. I have started about 20 others from lower branches that develop roots in leaf mold I use for mulch. I give them only to friends that are patient.

Rox, it sounds like your climbing hydrangea gets adequate sun, but has it yet produced side shoots off the main vine that do not attach themselves to the brick? These side shoots (or "adult" branches that lack attachment hairs) usually need to be at least several years old before flower buds form on them. The "juvenile" branches are those portions of the vine that attach themselves to the surface and increase the length of the vine; flower buds do not form on these sections. So, if your 4-year-old vine doesn't yet have many several-year-old "adult" branches, that may be why it has not yet produced flowers.

The other hydrangea in the same bed as your climbing hydrangea is probably one of the "big-leaf" hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla). Like climbing hydrangeas, big-leaf hydrangeas bloom on "old wood" (flower buds for this season form on last season's stem growth), but many of the big-leaf cultivars have flower buds and canes that are less cold-hardy than those of climbing hydrangeas. Really cold winter temperatures (or in your area, especially late spring frosts that occur after the buds have broken dormancy) can kill the flower buds on these hydrangeas. To get blooms, you may need to provide winter protection (by mounding up the base of the plant with mulch in late fall or by tying up the canes in late fall, securing a wire cage around the plant, and filling the cage with shredded leaves, shredded bark mulch, or plastic bags filled with leaves--all insulation would need to be removed after last threat of spring frost). Or you could try 'Endless Summer'--a big-leaf variety that will also bloom on new wood (this year's stem growth), as well as on old wood.

dwk, I checked those side shoots are a comin, I will be patient!

I have side shoots too [I just don't how old they are]! They have terminal buds, but I don't know if they are leaf or flower buds.

I don't know what kind of hydrangea the other is, but the leaves are small (2") not large. I will take a picture of it when it leafs out.
ROX

I am looking forward to seeing the pics!

I have a seven year old climbing hydrangea that is growing up a tri-trunked oak tree. I love it much more for the texture the leaf has to offer than for the flower. At the bottom I have planted Varigated Solomon Seal. It has grown into quite the monster and self propogates by layered branches if any one is interested I would be happy to send some off in the spring. Katy

Katy-
Beautiful!

Wow, maybe I'm not so patient now.

Katy - that is a beauty to behold! How did you get it to be so full? Mine is planted almost right in my compost pile, and it still doesn't look like that!

Thanks for the nice comments but honestly you have given me credit where credit is not due. Seven years ago I came home from the nursery with a one quart potted plant dug a hole, covered it with my standard sandy soil, wiped the dirt off my hands and walked away. Since that time it has received one handful of 5-10-5 in the spring and it was irrigated the first year only. Its sister planted on the same day but on the other side of property is not even 1/3 the size I think it is just one of those mutant plants that I think after a while every gardener ends up with. Do any of you have a plant that you just can not explain its growth? Katy

Yes. I have a monarda that was rated to grow 3 feet tall and is consistently more than 6 feet tall. Same color but a giant.
ROX

ROX your hummers must be humming a happy tune!

Deutzia Gracilis- a delicate looking little shrub that I have to whack back every year after bloom to keep it in check! I have literally done nothing to that plant, but it is just stubborn!

Here is a really bad picture of it- (This was the first picture I took using my digital camera)

Hi you all,
I want to report that my climbing hydrangea has some buds on it!!!
Can't wait to see what it will look like in full bloom!
Carol

Yahoo! Be sure to take pictures Carol!

I came across this thread on the day I am going to a plant sale that offers the vine. I have passed it up a couple times in the past knowing I probably would not be in the same house to see it bloom. I am in a new house and plan to stay for alot longer so I think I am going to buy one. I will just have to be patient with it. I am going to plant it in front of a fence that faces north, and let it take over. See my crude drawing on a washed out picture below. LOL