Hi all....we had a major storm here & all my Hydrangeas were flattened by heavy snow (which has now melted.) I have 20 plus Hydrangea that were damaged. The snow melted very fast & the temp. rose to 60 the day after the storm. Do you think the plants will flower next year? They flowered heavily this year. I normally don't prune 'till spring when I can really ID new & old growth. I thought all was lost in my garden but its not as bad as I thought. This all happpened last Friday (the 13th)
Gloria, grateful that she now has power.
Storm damaged Hydrangea
Hi Gloria,
I had a similar situation last winter into spring, forgot to cover my hyds for the winter, by Feb could see that the ends were frost-damaged. I pruned anyway, thinking I'd rather save the bush at the cost of a year's blooms. And guess what! It bloomed bigger and better than ever. If it happened to me, I'd cover them for the rest of the winter and prune in spring like you plan, but the real hyd experts should chime in. I should say mine was a Nikko Blue and it's not supposed to be re-blooming. I assume yours are also non-reblooming macrophyllas too?
How were they damaged? Broken branches?
I'd try to air layer any injured stems, even bracing them, if required to keep the branch from breaking completely.
I have mopheads, lacecaps oakleaf, climbing. There is so much damage, I don't know where to start. They all bloom on the previous years wood. Nikko Blue, broken & flattened. 10 Forever Pink, mostly bent to the ground. I straightened them up-right. Brunette looks to be OK. Looks like Snowflake will make it. The rest? I don't know. There are still power lines down everywhere. My power went on today, one week without it. There are a lot of dedicated gardeners here and everyone's gardens are really in bad shape. Specimen plantings destroyed, massive tree limbs down everywhere. I did think about air layering, but now I'd just be happy if they came back next year.
We are used to being slammed by the weather, but this was, by all accounts the freakiest storm in the city's history. The good news is that I scored on lots of burlap in early summer. Old coffee bean bags. I'm going to mulch then wrap the Hydrangeas holding down the burlap with bricks around the edges.
???? Should I hold off mulching 'till after the ground freezes or mulch now? All my perennials still have leaves, including the Hydrangeas. Of course, all those leaves are flattened. I had late flowering Hostas in bloom. Flat as a pancake. I tried to prop up everything I could. ( not much as it has been pouring rain all this past week). But my Hydrangeas are really "my babys".
Gloria, who is going to buy a generator when this thing is over.
Forever Pink is a rebloomer, it should be fine. Your Nikko Blue may be like mine and bloom after pruning in the winter; a lot of NBs sold in the east are some kind of reblooming sport- I found this out from the owner of Nantucket Hydrangeas. I like to mulch before ground freezes; actually, whenever DH does it and he does it after he gets the leaves cleaned up. Worst-case-- you lose blooms. I like your idea of wrapping for the rest of the winter. If you put some insulation into your wrapping, maybe cover with a black plastic bag to trap heat from the sun, you might coax new growth now that sets buds. You could try it on one branch per bush.
Thanks bbinnj, I never thought of black plastic. I've lots of that stuff. I think the rest of the garden will be alright, but as you know Hydrangeas are tricky. Climbing Hydrangeas are pretty much tough as nails. My 2 are established & would take dynamite for them to lose their grip. BG And I've never had to protect the other Hydrangeas over the winter. If we get a heavy snowfall....great. Snow is good mulch. But because of this freakish storm other measures have to be taken. Strange as it is to say, I hope we get a LOT of snow this winter. I'm fortunate in that my zone is a tad warmer than....say 10 miles inland. (by the lake and all) I can sucessfuly grow Hydrangeas that ordinarily wouldn't make it through without good protection.
Thanks again, Gloria
You are welcome.
Well that explains how you can be in the same zone I am in. I protect my hyds for the winter. usually. lol!