The house I bought 2 years ago is in new subdivision. It was 3 years old and had no landscaping. I have done the hardscaping the last 2 years and now its time to plant shrubs. I have bought some Butterfly bushes, Rose of sharons and a couple Blue Nikko Hydrangas. I have been reading through the website and have read that they wont make it. Should say won't rebloom. So would like recommendations for other types that would rebloom. And help would be appreciated. Thanks
Best Hydranga's for Zone 4-5
All 3 of those selections are spotty to me - well butterfly bushes are cheap and I'll always buy new ones as they die.
Hydrangea paniculatas and quercifloia's will be reliable bloomers on new wood. They will not be as colorful, but will have plenty of flowers.
Al
You could try winter protecting your Niko Blue hydrangeas. I put a wire cage around mine and fill it with pine needles, any insulating materials will work. I take mine off after the last frost, about the first of June here in N.E. Michigan. I don't think the butterfly bushes will make it without a lot of winter protection. The Rose of Sharron should make it, give it another year before you give up on it.
Some recommendations for your area.
Peonies - Very cold hardy and the deer don't like them
Hydrangea Paniculata Very cold hardy good land scape plants
Lilacs - very cold hardy.
Let me know if you want details on any of these plants.
I am sure that other will add some more advise for you.
Gary
All of your more tender plants have more potential to rebloom if they are on the south side of your property. I notice that you have completed your hardscaping. My Endless Summer hydrangea is doing beautifully with no protection BUT it is on the south side at the base of a low wall. Those I have seen in zone 5a that face north and are unprotected do not do flower, if they survive. I also have several varieties of oakleaf hydrangea (Snow Queen, Alice, Snowflake and Sykes Dwarf) and rebloom is iffy unless if I wrap them in burlap, which I am happy to do but it you have your hands full with new landscaping. Snowflake is the best of a very good bunch. Also, they need moisture in a full sun location. But they are beautiful without bloom.
Viburnums: carlesis, dentatums, doublefiles (the BEST!), trilobums (don't plant too deeply) are all wonderful. Low maintnance and with multiple seasons of beauty - flowers in the spring, berries in the summer, great color in fall.
I agree with Gary that peonies and lilacs are wonderful.
Smokebushes are great too.
Please feel free to ask for more detail.
Thank you for the idea's. My landscape is all south facing sun. I will take some pics and post them here in the next couple days.I have lilacs that were here when we moved in, but where to close to the house and I transplanted them. Dont know if they will make it or not, but they did get leaves on them this year.Planted penonies last year which got a few blooms this year.The area im planting the shrubs in is against a fence in back of house. Will receive all day sun. Gonna make raised beds for them this weekend.
Thanks again.
Kevin
Wow, Kevin, south facing sun is best for winter protection. You have a real advantage. You will need to water a bit more in the summer, but you can push your zone a bit, and any zone 5 plant should be fine. Lilacs are incredibly iron clad. When we got here 3 of my 5 installed lilacs looked dead. They are now 9 feet tall. Give them a little compost and they'll respond.
Looking forward to your pics. 8 years ago I was in exactly your situation. New house, little or no landscaping. You can really put your personal imprint on it. Fabulous.
This is a pic of the fence that Im planting my shrubs on. This was taking at 2:30 today. It is Sunny here all day long.
There are hydrangeas that will do okay in Illinois but they won't like south facing sun.... they prefer some shade.
Oakleaf hydrangea, annabelles, snowballs...
Rose of sharon and buddleai are not species that I would plant because of their ability to spread and naturalize into wild areas.
You might want to look into hearty illinois native flowing perrenials for your fenceline. They love full hot sun in the summer and are very drought and winter tolerant... Prairie Dock, Rosinweed, Ironweed, Coneflowers, Rudbekias, NE asters, butterfly weed, penstamon, liatris, bergamot, columbine, spiderwort, royal catchfly... you can group them in clumps for a nice landscaped look along the fence line or you can mix them up with some native grasses for a more wild look.
I have had a Niko Blue Hydrangae for about 5 years and have my first bloom this year (only 1 tiny bloom). It is planted on the south side of our cottage in Fontana WI, which is zone 4. Any ideas on how I can get it to bloom. There are several in the area that bloom like crazy...but not mine. This past winter we covered it with straw for the first time. I noted in May that there were several buds on the old wood, but not one of them made in through the spring cold spells. Are we too far north?
The only way I can get my oakleaf hydrangeas to bloom in zone 5a (they are VERY exposed - no protection from any source) is to wrap them in burlap. I had them for at least five years and got no flowers. I get a big roll of burlap, wrap it around the oakleafs several times, then twist the roll to accommodate a layer over the top, and then use the one inch wide stretchable garden tape to hold it in place while wrapping the tape around it. All five of them are blooming for the first time, and they're gorgeous. Not only that, but spring growth was vigorous - more than it's ever been.
I know that I would have been easier to replace them, but if you are as fond of your nikkos as I am of my oakleafs, it might be worth a try.
Donna
I am also a Buckeye Fan! My vote is for Endless Summer Hydrangea...I have two and they are both gorgeous and hardy. Each has at least 30 mopheads at any given time. Mine have a Southeast exposure. They came through last winter flawlessly without even wrapping them. Good luck!
Polly
I agree with Polly. Endless Summer is fabulous. I am in zone 5a, and do not wrap it or protect it other than putting compost over an inch or so of the base. This was taken 2 weeks ago. It has far more blooms now.
And the leaves are gorgeous all season. Fall color is wonderful.
This message was edited Jul 1, 2006 10:24 AM
This message was edited Jul 5, 2006 11:37 PM
Sorry its been so long for response. Been on vacation. I will try the Endless Summer Hydrangea. I got 2 'Tardiva' (Hydrangea paniculata) a few weeks ago that bigcityal had suggested. I need a lot of shrubs as i have over 200 ft of fence line to fill. I am preparing 50 ft now for fall plants. thanks again for the suggestion.
Kevin