HYDRANGEA STATUS LATE SPRING

Big Leaf Hydrangea in Garden Setting

Finally, it’s here. The hydrangeas in USDA Zones 5 and 6 are not only showing buds, but flowers have begun to emerge on some varieties. So it’s time for a status check for this season’s hydrangeas.

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TIME TO PRUNE OLD WOOD HYDRANGEAS

How to Prune A Bigleaf Hydrangea

It’s finally time to prune your old wood hydrangeas. This is in addition to what I wrote in February of this year about hydrangea pruning. At that time I wrote it was safe to prune your panicle and woodland hydrangeas in late winter. If you haven’t already done that, get going unless you live in…

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NEW HYDRANGEAS, PART 3

My last two posts covered several new hydrangeas you are likely to meet this year. Here is part 3 with details on a few more. I also provide some links: one is for a new study on woodland/smooth hydrangeas that you may find useful. The second link will take you to an excellent article on…

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NEW HYDRANGEAS COMING THIS YEAR

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Heart Throb' has blood red flowers

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.

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HYDRANGEA WINTER PROTECTION

Big Leaf Hydrangea being wrapped for winter

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…

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CHANGING THE COLOR OF YOUR HYDRANGEAS

Several hydrangeas of different colors

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…

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HYDRANGEA LEAF SPOTS

Big leaf hydrangea Let's Dance® Rhythmic Blue®

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…

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BEAUTIFUL LATE SEASON HYDRANGEAS

Big Leaf Hydrangea In Its Autumn Colors

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…

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