Does anyone know if this is normal?

Happy May Day everyone! Last fall we moved from Lakewood, Washington (where my hydrangeas didn't require any winter protection) back to West Virginia. I have 5 hydrangea macrophylla (Leuchtfeuer, Brestenberg, Nikko Blue, All Summer Beauty and Endless Summer) and figured if I wanted to see any blooms this year on any but the Endless Summer and All Summer Beauty, I'd better give them winter protection. I put chicken wire cages around them and filled the cages with leaves, completely covering them.

I resisted the urge to uncover them during the warm spell we had in March and my patience was rewarded when we had that unseasonable cold spell in April. Finally yesterday (after checking the 15 day AccuWeather forecast and seeing no more cold weather (our last frost date is May 18th) I began releasing them from their chicken wire cages and uncovering them from under the leaves.

Here is what Leuchtfeuer looks like. The others look much the same. Some bright green leaves toward the outside...and that funky, almost white, very tender growth on the inside. Is this normal? Or did I cover them wrong? Will the funky new growth harden and the stems turn brown and the leaves green? I do hope my inexperience with hydrangeas didn't hurt them!

Kim

That is normal and caused by the lack of sun light. The chicken wire cages & leaves protected the plant from the sudden chill but, by then, the plant had started growing due to the warm spell. Since the leaves did not let the sun rays hit the new growth, new growth looks as in your photo, bleached. It will recover and change to normal in a few weeks. But that new growth is tender so make sure that the sun exposure is appropriate because it cannot withstand too much sun. Four hours or less might be ok but keep an eye on it. Luis

Thanks Luis! They are in a shady spot -- northern exposure and I will move the garden furniture around to block more of the direct sun. I was planning on moving the Leuchtfeuer and Brestenberg to a sunnier spot (eastern exposure) but I will wait a month or so to do that. Moving them shouldn't bother them by then since their roots won't be disturbed at all--they are still in their oversize nursery peat pots--and the funny extra tender new growth should be normal.

Is there a better way to cover them to protect them for the winter where this funny gowth wouldn't happen? Thanks for the help.

Kim

I think the only way to avoid that is if you take the covering off earlier just as the leaf buds are starting to open, but then you run the risk of damage by a late frost.