Report on 2020 Winter Impact on Hydrangeas

Hydrangea Macrophylla Blue Wave

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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PRUNING YOUR HYDRANGEAS

Hydrangea Paniculata 'Tickled Pink' Mid-Season

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…

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2019 Winter Impact on Hydrangeas

Weather chart showing extremely low winter temperatures

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. 

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Time To Prune New Wood Hydrangeas

New wood hydrangea Pinky Winky needs to be pruned.

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…

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