Garden

[Lilysmom1]

Hello gardening friends.

This is a question that comes up all the time.  I thought I would make a separate post to discuss this.  I have probably close to 50 hydrangeas in my gardens and I have good success.  Here is my advice.  Hope it helps.

Hydrangeas not blooming

Do you know what the name of your hydrangea is?  If not, take a photo (when in bloom if possible ) and take it to a nursery (nursery, not a big box store) and ask what kind it is.

Hydrangeas prefer morning sun and shade in the high heat of the day.  Some types cannot tolerate high heat at all and will look wilted in hot afternoon sun.

Does your hydrangea bloom on old wood, on new wood or on both?  It is important to know this because it affects when you should prune it.  I usually prune mine right after blooming.  If you wait too long to prune, you could be pruning off next year’s buds.  I only prune to shape mine.

As a rule of thumb, you should never prune more than 1/3 off a shrub at any time

I only fertilize hydrangeas in the Spring.  In any event, do not fertilize after July 1.  Many people believe fertilizer will help an ailing or struggling shrub.  Not true.  It can stress the shrub, especially in dry conditions.  When you fertilize, (I use a granular slow release fertilizer) do it before a rain.  Lightly dig around the drip line of the shrub, apply the fertilizer and lightly cover it with surrounding mulch.  If it doesn’t rain. You need to water the shrub well so that it dissolves into the soil.

I use compost and mulched/shredded oak leaves (I have a mulcher and I use downed oak leaves to produce oak leaf mulch) around my shrubs, especially around hydrangeas and rhodos, when I plant them.  They add nutrients back to the soil, help retain moisture and help with shrubs whose leaves turn yellow (chlorosis).

Finally, watering shrubs in times of extreme heat is a big help.  Water deep, not often.  A good rink once or twice a week is much better than watering every day.  Shrubs starved or water for long periods of drought have difficulty producing flowers.

I have only had two hydrangeas in two decades that did not bloom well.  One was Nikko Blue which is notorious for few blooms.  The other was oakleaf hydrangea.  After several years of catering to them, I simply got rid of them.They we’re taking up premium real estate in my garden for no purpose so it was an easy decision.

[Annabellethecat66]

I have a person who plants my flowers I order from QVC.

Maybe 3 years ago I bought that bloom stuff Roberta's sells.

I think she puts some on it.  I've had really good luck with the one's they sell where he flowers are at least the size of my hand.

I've actually had delivery people ask me what they are called.  I only know them as Hydrangeas.  They are amazing.

I have friends who can grow everything.  I can't.

When I used to shop to buy flowers, when checking out I'd say to the cashier, 

"Listen...do you hear that?"  

They'd say, "No..what is it?"  I'd say, "That's the sound of the flowers saying, 'Don't let her buy me...I don't want to die'.

The cashier would think for a second and start laughing. But I was serious.  The Gardner won't let me go near the flowers except but to admire from afar!  Ha!

[Annabellethecat66]

@Lilysmom1  I so admire people like you who can grow things.😘

[Kachina624]

@Lilysmom1    Now I know why I never see hydrangeas here in the desert.  

1. It's too hot

2. Sun is probably too intense at 6,000ft a!titude, even in the shade.

3. They'd take too much water which is very expensive and wasteful.

Too bad as I love them.  The garden is beautiful this fall.

[pieman]

@Lilysmom1 All I know from experience is this,  there are some that only bloom every other year.

They also like acid soil...

Also they really don't care for all day sun..

Since we moved back to Florida, I have to reprogram my gardening ways.

They so not like Florida sun, today I picked out the last 2 that still were green.

I put them in a pot and left them in the shade on the lanai in hopes of bringing them back to life, 

Maybe mixing Muracid with water will give yours the jolt they need, or maybe as I said, they aren't the ones to bloom every year.....

Good luck with them,,

[Mom2Dogs]

Thanks   @Lilysmom1 

My plant did not bloom this year, but got very big and green.  I did not trim it all, and I am certain I did not trim last year because that year there was only 1 bloom.  The year before I did trim it.  I have been experimenting for a couple of years.

If 2023 is not better, I am pulling it out...thanks for all your garden tips.

[Pook]

Growing up we had several different kinds and did absolutely nothing to them and they grew to about 6 ft high with  lots of blooms.  Now I could not get any to grow and bloom no matter what I do!!  I used a special powder stuff for them as well as ph testing and treating but still nothing for 4 years since planting them and never had any blooms.  A neighbor has blue and mauvey pink on the same 2 bushes.  She does nothing but last year her son (who has a landscaping business) did trim them for the first time since they were planted several years ago and wow the blooms.  They always bloom for them with nothing special done.  I give up!!

[781Florist]

I worked at a flower shop that had a patch of dirt next to the stairs in the back.  I was there through four owners, but one was a Korean lady who must have had a magic touch because she took Hydrangeas that went unsold and simply planted them in that stony soil (really, dirt!!) and would give them a soak every now and then.

The area was somewhat shady and the hose was about the most attention she gave them.  After a couple of years we had the most amazing patch of Hydrangeas you could imagine!  I also remember as small children we brought my grandmother a Hydrangea every Mother's Day.  She would plant them in the unfussed over soil (dirt!) alongside the garage.  She had a beautiful string of plants every year with virtually no effort after the planting!  I know that Cape Cod is famous for it's blue Hydrangeas, so maybe it is just New England that has the magic touch!!

[781Florist]

Oh, she did cut them back but there was no real time spent or fretting over them!

[Lilysmom1]

@Annabellethecat66 , The ones I had an issue flowering were rhodos.  It took several years for them to establish and now they bloom very well.  I increased watering them over long dry periods.  LM