Types of Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas and Late Season Color
One of the best features of hydrangeas is that they keep on giving with their late season color. Let me explain.
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…
Read MoreHYDRANGEA 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 MoreGift Hydrangeas
Gift hydrangeas have been floating around for over 6 weeks. Between Easter just past and Mother’s Day in just a few days, it was inevitable that these traditional gift plants (also called florist hydrangeas) would show up. You can’t avoid them in local garden centers, grocery stores, and box stores. Blooming florist hydrangeas are…
Read MorePRUNING YOUR HYDRANGEAS
If your hydrangeas live in the milder parts of the U.S. and Europe, and the spirit moves you, you can consider pruning only your new wood blooming hydrangeas now. It’s hard to conceive of that when you live where I do. Last March we had 3 Nor’easters. Not only did they bury everything, but the…
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 MoreWeb Worms On Panicle Hydrangeas
In July, I wrote about web worms (Hyphantria cunea) on panicle hydrangeas. For the past several weeks, the second generation of web worms has been active in my neck of the woods. And boy, are they active! It seems every day they form new webs where none were the previous day. That will continue through October or until the…
Read MorePanicle Hydrangeas On Parade
I have been roaming around these past few weeks, visiting open gardens throughout my local area. The panicle hydrangeas have been just glorious in every garden I have seen with their undeniably spectacular flowers and form. Not to mention the impressive flowers of oak leaf hydrangeas are showing their magnificent colors as well. PANICLE HYDRANGEAS:…
Read MoreClimbing Hydrangea, A Plant For All Gardens
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…
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