Success With Hydrangeas Blog

As I promised in my last post of 2021, here is the second installment about new hydrangeas that are coming to  local garden centers in 2022. Some are newer than others, but since it takes a while to build up stock, it also takes time to get them out into gardeners’ hands.

I woke up yesterday morning to this lovely winter scene. Not much of a surprise as I DO live in zone 5B. Since I am already in the holiday spirit, this “mood” snow got me thinking about how some of the new hydrangea introductions for 2022 will fit into my garden and winter view.

I woke up to a very dark 44 degrees F this morning, a stark reminder that I need to get organized to do some hydrangea winter protection. Those that aren’t planted in protected locations as I described in an earlier blog post need a little help if I want to give them their best chance…

If your ground isn’t frozen yet (in the Northern hemisphere) or you haven’t wrapped your hydrangeas for winter (maybe you’re not doing that anyway), now is the best time to work on changing the color of your hydrangeas. Many big leaf (Hydrangea macrophylla) and mountain (H. serrata) flowers can be changed to either blue or…

I am getting a lot of questions these days about hydrangea leaf spots and unsightly foliage. In most cases, the spots are from an infection by Xanthomonas campestris, or Cercospora which grows from the pathogen Cercospora hydrangeae. I’m also seeing powdery mildew on many other plants, like veggies and perennials that also blemish hydrangeas. You…

Autumn is the best time for transplanting your hydrangeas (that means now), unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere.

You have probably heard hydrangeas described as having a beautiful “antique” season of color, the late season. In most cases, the plants being discussed are big leaf (macrophylla) and mountain (serrata) hydrangeas. But don’t discount the oakleaf (quercifolia) and woodland/smooth (arborescens) hydrangeas. Their flowers also change into other colors. More about them later…

TAKE A BREAK FROM HYDRANGEA WORK If you are in the northern hemisphere and in zone 6 and colder, the beginning of August is the time to take a break from working on hydrangeas that flower on old wood. That translates into big leaf (macrophylla), mountain (serrata), oak leaf (quercifolia), and climbing (petiolaris) varieties.

Our fabulous hydrangea season continues. But now it’s time to think about hydrangea pruning in mid-season, specifically big leaf and mountain hydrangeas. We have had so much good weather that the plants are putting on lots of new growth. That’s good news and bad news. Good news in that the new growth will fuel your…

Now that it is July, it’s time to fertilize your hydrangeas, especially for next year. You should be having a fabulous hydrangea year. The relatively mild winter and forgiving spring is giving all of us a fantastic show. Just about every big leaf hydrangea (macrophylla) is flowering. But don’t be lulled into thinking you can…