Success With Hydrangeas Blog

Time to report on 2019 winter impact on hydrangeas. In early May, I went out to my Zone 5 garden to see what the past winter had done to my hydrangeas that bloom on old wood: big leaf (macrophylla) and mountain hydrangea (serrata). I also checked on the oak leaf (quercifolia) and climbing (petiolaris) hydrangeas I grow. 

  If you’re lucky enough to have a climbing hydrangea (hydrangea anomala petiolaris), you already know what a fabulous plant it is. And right now it is in its glory in my zone 5B garden. The fact that it grows in shade and is drought tolerant makes it doubly attractive. And in my little slice…

Are your ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea leaves closed? To start with, inspect them and any other woodland/smooth (arborescens) hydrangeas you may have, e.g., Incrediball® or Invincibelle® Spirit. You may notice the same situation like my leaves in the photo. Interesting, huh? Don’t panic!

Pruning your old wood hydrangeas may be possible now. But not all of them which is a source of much confusion.Which ones should you examine for this task? Your old wood plants include big leaf hydrangeas (macrophylla), mountain hydrangeas (serrata), oak leaf hydrangeas (quercifolia),  and climbing hydrangeas (petiolaris). Even if your plant is a rebloomer…

Hydrangea pruning of  ‘Annabelle’ and ‘Limelight’ is the order of the day in my April Connecticut garden. They both flower on the growth they will put on this year, better known as “new wood.” In hydrangea-land, those new wood plants are woodland/smooth hydrangea arborescens like ‘Annabelle’, or for example any plant that has Incrediball® or…

It’s just about time to engage in a gardener’s spring ritual and get ready for hydrangea pruning. We have had a few teaser days of 50 degrees but where I live in Connecticut the footing hasn’t been safe enough to go out and do much. But it has been a good time to get things…

It’s time to prune new wood hydrangeas, especially if your plants live in warm parts of the U.S. (zone 7 and up) and elsewhere. It’s hard to conceive of that when you live where I do (zone 5) as we stare down yet another frigid blast of cold air over the next few days. But…

I’m focusing this week on protecting my hydrangeas from deer and rabbits for the winter. The new wood bloomers like ‘Annabelle’ and PGs are fair game which I let the wildlife “prune” for me. The big leaf hydrangeas are rebloomers which I no longer protect against the weather. I take a chance and depend on…

I woke up to 37 degrees F this morning, a stark reminder that I need to prepare some of my bigleaf hydrangeas (macrophyllas) for winter. Those that aren’t planted in protected locations as I described in an earlier blog post, and  http://lorraineb.wpengine.com/reporting-winter…rangeas-part-two/need a little help if I want to give them their best chance of…

Look what I found on several of my panicle hydrangeas: WEB WORMS!