Has anyone ever had luck with these? I know they are grown in a greenhouse and forced to bloom by a certain date. They had some marked down to $5, just wondering if they would be worth it. They looked pretty healthy.
Susan
Grocery store hydrangeas...
Susan,
All the hydrangeas I have came from the grocery store. They are all the H. macrophylla variety, so they were given a growth retardant (I assume...) to keep them small and blooming. They all have gotten quite big and are perfectly healthy.
Unless the tag says otherwise, assume they are the large growing hydrangeas...so they're not going to be "small" plants later on.
Thank you!!!! I called the store back today and talked to someone that worked in floral dept. and she said they are mophead, exactly what you said. These have huge blooms, much bigger than one I got from walmart. I'm glad they will get bigger and I can't wait to get them in the ground! $$ well spent!
Thanks again! :)
Just a few words of caution about your greenhouse hydrangeas: They have been force bloomed, so they are blooming out of cycle; this will cause a bit of schock when you put them in the ground. Hydrangeas in our neck of the woods should look like a bundle of sticks at this time of the year. Don't be surprised if they try to go dormant out of doors, because they have not been hardened off. The reason the blooms are larger is probably because the grower cut off flower buds to reduce the number of flowers that are larger. They were probably force bloomed for floral displays. You still got a great deal, but they may require a bit of attention. If you get late freezes/frosts, they will look dead. Hydrangeas are not supposed to have foliage during the cold days of winter. I am not a gloom and doomer, I just have a bit of experience in this area. Good gardening. If they turn to sticks, come back on the thread, and I'll share what I do with them. Nothing wrong with getting bargains.
Here's a pic of the hydrangea. I deadheaded one bloom and some of the leaves that had turned a little. I'm going to enjoy it as it is inside. I have 3 others outside that may or may not do anything this year. My dad has a big old blue hydrangea in AL and he told me to come dig it up! LOL I may see if he has any babies under his that I can bring home. Thanks for all the advice, I'm sure I will be needing more, peony01, and now I'll come to you. Thanks again hon :)
Susan
Susan - it's lovely. Does it have a name tag? It looks a lot like Harlequin.
When you go looking for those babies it might be best if you can look before they totally leaf out. I had no idea I had as many babies as I do (on my blue lacecap) because they're just as tall as the mother plant.
Here's my 'Harlequin'.
Susan, Pirl has given you some good advice. Now is a good time in our area to lift the hydrangeas outdoors that are to be transplanted. The growth buds are already swollen on mine. If we get a run of warm weather, they will begin to leaf out. By the way, when you transplant your floral display hydrangeas, I suggest you don't fertilize them for quite awhile. That beautiful deep, dark green color on the leaves are because of the extra fertilizer the grower gives them to please the buyers. They are beautiful plants - just might be tough adjusting to the outdoors. They'll be fine with a little care. Good luck, and remember, we live in a great hydrangea climate.
I guess I got my $$ worth on the hydrangea. My 7 year old watered it for me and didn't bother to tell me that his watering can had dish soap in it! He was re-enacting a science experiment from school! I didn't think that it soaked into the soil that much. As soon as I saw it, I rinsed it off and the soil wasn't even damp. I repotted it in fresh soil but the leaves have wilted. It is in a window with filtered sun, now what?
Susan
I hope an expert comes along to help out but in the meantime I wouldn't dare feed it, and I'd keep it in filtered light. Give us an update with whatever happens. Good luck.
Do you know how much dish soap he used? A little bit shouldn't hurt the plant, in fact if I have plants where the soil has dried out a lot, I'll sometimes add a pinch to the water to help it wet the soil better. I think you've done all you can by putting it in fresh soil, make sure you keep it watered and I think there's a good chance it'll recover. You mentioned that when you took it out of the pot the soil wasn't even damp, so my thought is that maybe it needed water, hydrangeas wilt pretty easily in my experience so I think as soon as it gets the water it needs it'll probably perk up (make sure not to overwater though!). The fact that the soil wasn't damp also tells me he didn't get much dish soap in the soil, maybe he poured it all over the leaves instead? It might not hurt to give them a quick rinse in the sink in case that's what happened, again a small amt of dish soap won't hurt the leaves, but if he had a lot in there you'd probably want to rinse it off.