I always thought that this plant was a hydrangea. It has never bloomed in the 4 summers I have been at my house. The leaves fall off each year. What is left is stick-like stems. I cut it back each fall.
So what is it? A hydrangea or not?
If yes - why won't it bloom?
Should I be cutting it down?
Thank you - once I know what it is then I can figure out how to take care of it.
If it is a hydrangea fall pruning cuts off the flower buds for the next year. Flower buds form on hydrangeas in the late summer/fall. As long as you keep cutting it back it won't flower. It does look like a Hydrangea macrophylla. Hydrangea macrophyllas also are bud hardy usually ( but not always) to zone 6. In other words, if you don't cut it back this fall and leave the flower buds they might get killed by winter low temperatures. What zone are you in?
I believe I am in 5b. So are you saying that its in the wrong area? Thanks so much.
Leigh
I t is a hydrangea. If you trim it you will cut off all of the buds for the following year. You live in a cold zone so you should give the plant some winter protection. http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/ They have good information about winter protection.
Gary
Without knowing "which" Hydrangea macrophylla you can't be certain it is the wrong area. garyt is most definitely right - provide it with winter protection and absoutely don't cut it back now. If you cut it back now you will cut off next year's flowers.
I winter protect my hydrangeas by surrounding them with chicken wire cages and filling the chicken wire cages with oak leaves. If the oak leaves pack down after a rain or snow I sometimes have to add more. I keep them covered until about mid-April.
Your hydrangea m. looks healthy, so I'd provide the winter protection suggested and wait until next year. No pruning.
We are in zone 5 and have never given our hydrangeas winter protection; they bloomed just fine until last year. I was told the buds froze in a late spring frost. I was
planning on throwing a blanket over them if it were to to freeze after the first of May. Will that work?
Might! I'm thinking of investing in large sheets of bubble wrap. It's light. You can anchor it to the ground with dirt around the edges or just rock or bricks. I "push the zone" here with my H. macrophyllas. That's asking for trouble sometimes. I'm 5. All my hydrangeas are either remontant or zone 6. Late spring freezes are a big, big problem.
