Hydrangea serrata (Mountain)
HYDRANGEA WINTER PROTECTION
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…
Read MoreCHANGING THE COLOR OF YOUR HYDRANGEAS
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…
Read MoreHYDRANGEA LEAF SPOTS
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…
Read MoreTransplanting Hydrangeas in Autumn
Autumn is the best time for transplanting your hydrangeas (that means now), unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere.
Read MoreBEAUTIFUL LATE SEASON HYDRANGEAS
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…
Read MoreFERTILIZING HYDRANGEAS
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…
Read MoreHYDRANGEA PRUNING: BIG LEAF AND MOUNTAIN
It’s finally time to prune your big leaf and mountain hydrangeas. This is in addition to what I wrote in January about hydrangea pruning. At that time I wrote that it was safe to go out and prune your woodland/smooth hydrangeas and your panicle hydrangeas. If you haven’t already done that, get going unless you live…
Read MoreHydrangea Pruning
I am delighted to tell you that I have just confirmed a free virtual upcoming hydrangea pruning talk, Pruning Big Leaf Hydrangeas.
Read MoreReport on 2020 Winter Impact on Hydrangeas
It’s time to report on 2020 winter impact on my hydrangeas, a little later than I would have liked. I test both new and old introductions to the big leaf (macrophylla) and mountain (serrata) hydrangea families. Invariably, some plants produce few or no flowers. Then I examine why that happened. You can read previous reports…
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