I've had this Hydrangea for 3 summers. The first 2, it bloomed beautifully. Now, it's only blooming at the bottom. I've never pruned it. Last month, when it became obvious that no leaves were going to grow on the dried up branches, I cut them off. Anyone know what's wrong? Thanks
If it's one that blooms on old wood, the branches on the top could be newer growth which wouldn't have flowers. Either that or if all the branches are older growth, maybe the branches near the top of the plant got cold damage in winter/spring (this would also explain the dead stuff you had to trim off) but the lower part of the plant was more protected so the buds survived.
Thanks, Ecrane. We had a very warm winter, except in mid March, we got a really frigid spell.
That's probably what happened then, one of the big risks with hydrangeas in zone 5/6 is that a late freeze will zap your buds. The good news is that it didn't get all of them, and hopefully next year the weather will cooperate a little better and you'll have more flowers!
Thank you, i was worried about a disease. I never knew that Hydrangeas were cold sensitive. There are so many of them here.
No, definitely not a disease. And as far as cold sensitivity--it's the Hydrangea macrophylla cultivars which bloom only on old wood and Hydrangea quercifolia and H. serrata which also bloom on old wood that are going to be the most susceptible to cold, late freezes are a problem for them and if you live in zone 5 or the colder half of zone 6 you really need to protect them over the winter if you want flowers since the late freezes are common enough that you'll never really get a good amount of blooms otherwise. There are some reblooming macrophyllas which will also bloom on new wood and aren't as cold sensitive, and also H. arborescens and H. paniculata bloom on new wood so then you don't run into trouble with cold. Since you're in 6b you're sort of borderline--typically zone 7 and warmer you won't have any trouble with buds freezing except in a very rare year, but in zone 5-6a you really need to protect them. So you're in between, I suspect most years you'll probably be OK but every few years or so you'll run into something like this where you lose some of your blooms to a late freeze.
Thanks, Ecrane. i've got a lot of different kinds of hydrangeas. Do you mean protect them at ground level or wrapping the branches?
Most people build a wire cage around them and fill it up with leaves. You need to protect the branches since that's where the buds will be. In your zone though most years you shouldn't need it, maybe you can just keep some frost cloth handy and throw it over the plant if you're expecting a late freeze.
My Ecrane, You are busy!!! Thanks, either solution sounds good. I've seen people here wrap fig tree tops with burlap. What kind of cloth do you suggest? Do they sell such a thing?
I have stuff that's very lightweight, similar I guess to landscape fabric except it's white or sometimes green, and it's just called frost cloth. Burlap is more something that you would use if you were going to protect it constantly for the entire winter (as a subsititute for the cage of leaves). Frost cloth is easier to manage for occasional protection but it's really designed to throw over a plant for an occasional cold night, not something you would leave on for months.
Thanks, Ecrane. Yes, that's what i liked about it. I'll look around for some because i have other shrubs that could probably use it, especially near my entrance.
I keep loosing young shrubs over the winter, even some older ones (3 to 4 yr olds). my large bed is along a very busy road they gets lots of natural and traffic wind. i'm going to try some of the cages out there, just have to watch not to get any juglone leaves into the mix.
Is there any chance they're also getting extra salt from the road? If it's road salt then cages may not help since the salt will still wind up in the soil. Very young shrubs that were just planted in the last year or two are going to have a tougher time with cold than things that are more established, but if you're growing things that are appropriate for your climate and your winters haven't been exceptionally cold, you shouldn't be losing 3-4 year old things to cold.
Thanks, Ecrane. They are about 6 to 8' back from the road, so I don't think the salt is getting them It could be several different causes. In the summer it's exceptionally dry from the wind, even though I regularly water. In the winter and early spring the winds are brutally cold. There's a long stand of maples between them and the road, plus a sidewalk and grass strip.
They are all basically planted among maple roots. I have Irises planted between the maples, which are closer to the road, and they do fine. Forsythias of all different varieties do well over there. I've lost some Hydrangeas, sambucas, salix and witch hazel. Liliacs do fine, but azaleas and laurels are trickier.
I'm always ripping b. walnut seedlings out. I think that at one time there were b. walnut saplings here, because there are many small stumps. It is a hugh L shaped bed, basically all under trees. The B walnut is on the other leg of the L Even though the beds are under trees, they do get a fair amount of light because I've raised the canopy and the storms keep opening it up more.
I don't know how big your yard is, but if you've got a walnut there, there's a decent chance its roots go underneath the area you've been having trouble, that could explain your problems. If you google "plants under black walnut" or "juglone resistant plants" and some things along those lines you should come up with some lists of things that will do well under the walnut. And hydrangeas can sometimes have trouble under any tree--they're pretty thirsty plants and don't do as well in a situation where they're competing with the tree for water.
Thank you, ecrane.
