Hydrangea Care
HYDRANGEA CARE in JULY: Make your plants thrive
You should be having a fabulous hydrangea year. The relatively mild winter and forgiving spring is giving gardeners in the Northeast a fantastic show. Just about every big leaf hydrangea (macrophylla) is flowering. If your plants aren’t performing, take a minute to read a post I just did for the National Garden Bureau. In July it’s…
Read MoreHydrangea Arborescens and Stuck Leaves
Are the leaves on your ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea arborescens stuck to each other? Inspect them and any other hydrangea arborescens you may have like Incrediball® or Invincibelle® Spirit. You may notice some leaves cupped together. It looks like the leaves above from my Invincibelle® Spirit. Interesting, huh? Don’t panic!
Read MoreHydrangeas as Cut Flowers
Hydrangeas as cut flowers are perfect if you are feeling hydrangea-starved. That describes me a week or two ago. Then we had two consecutive days of temps in the 60s. That gave me a terminal case of spring fever! But I knew enough not to rush out and start playing with my hydrangeas. Living in…
Read MoreDeer Damage on Hydrangeas in Winter
This is the time of year to be alert to deer damage on hydrangeas. The winter weather pattern of deep cold, snow, and ice storms has made it increasingly difficult for them to get around and find food sources to sustain life. Deer tracks are the obvious tip off so here’s what to look for.
Read MorePreparing Hydrangeas for Winter
We have had a few nights where the temps have dropped into the high 30s, a sobering reminder that it’s time for preparing hydrangeas for winter. Specifically, time to wrap some of my bigleaf (macrophyllas) and mountain (serratas) hydrangeas. Those that aren’t planted in protected locations as I described in my other blog posts, HERE and…
Read MoreHydrangea Leaf Spots
On my recent garden visits, I’ve noted an abundance of unsightly foliage and hydrangea leaf spots. They can be bacterial leaf spot from an infection by Xanthomonas campestris, or Cercospora which grows from the pathogen Cercospora hydrangeae. I’m also seeing powdery mildew on many plants. You can thank Erysiphe friesii var. friesii (formerly Microsphaera friesii).…
Read MoreHydrangea Care For July – Part Two
Hard to believe we are past mid-July – already! NOW is the time to deal with the last bit of mid-season hydrangea care for July, ideally by August 1. JULY HYDRANGEA CARE: PINCH PRUNE Hydrangea care in July involves “pinch pruning” any of your hydrangeas that flower on old wood. What’s the science behind this?…
Read MoreHydrangea Care For July
If your garden is anything like mine, right about now insects and disease start rearing their ugly heads signaling time for hydrangea care. In most cases, they show up as a result of cultural conditions. We had a very wet and cool spring and things have finally begun to dry out. But all that rain…
Read More2019 Winter Impact on Hydrangeas
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.
Read MorePruning Your Old Wood Hydrangeas
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…
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