Success With Hydrangeas Blog

If you have hydrangeas in containers bringing them in for the winter is something to consider. A lot depends on the container you have, your growing zone, and the kind of hydrangea you want to protect.

  We have had rain of biblical proportions the last few weeks, making my soil nice and soft: perfect for preparing hydrangeas for winter. Specifically, it’s time to think about insulating susceptible bigleaf (macrophylla) and mountain (serrata) hydrangeas. Those that aren’t planted in protected locations as I described in my other blog posts, HERE and…

Now that we are on the cusp of September, I am organizing my plans for transplanting several hydrangeas. Plus I need to put in several new plants so I can trial them for a few years and report back to you on their progress.

For gardeners in the Northern hemisphere, we are coming into the home stretch for considering autumn hydrangea care. Where I garden in US Zone 5b, we are almost out of time by mid-August. But if you garden where it is warmer, you have a few more weeks. Here’s what to keep in mind.

Right about now, you are probably cutting hydrangea flowers for bouquets. Except that your beautiful flowers droop in the vase within a few hours of being cut. ARGHH@!! So what’s a hydrangea-lover to do? Let me share what I learned a while back about hydrangeas as cut flowers.

Pruning and fertilizing hydrangeas mid-season is something you should consider. In my part of the U.S. this is my final seasonal opportunity to give my hydrangeas their last cuts and food for this year. Maybe for you too.

Have you found any Japanese Beetles on your hydrangeas yet? I have and I am not surprised. If you follow the Growing Degree Day (GDD) science, you know that these pests appear anywhere from 950-2150 GDDs. For those of you who aren’t familiar with GDDs, here’s a good site/link for you from University of Maryland…

Just a quick note to remind you about tomorrow’s LIVE HYDRANGEA TALK at White Flower Farm.   We have decided to move the discussion indoors in view of the weather forecast.

Big leaf hydrangeas (macrophyllas) had a hard time this past winter in the northeast U.S. and elsewhere. The big question is: will your big leaf hydrangeas bloom this summer before the first frost of autumn knocks them back?

Now that our gardening season is finally underway, it’s time to talk about hydrangea insects, what they are and what to do.