climbing hydrangea will not cling second season

20 years ago

I have two climbing hydrangeas. One is planted by the HUGE tree in the front of the house the other is against a wooden fence in the back yard. The one in the front was planted spring of 2005. Since the planting time I have had it tied against the tree. It has still not sent out any suckers to cling. The good news is that they both look like they are making a flower or two. This realy shocked me because they are so young and short. I almost started dancing when I saw this two days ago. My husband thought I was nuts for being so excited. I tried to explain to him that normally there is a wait of a couple years for flowers. Anyway any ideas on the lack of cling would be great!!!!!

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Comments (6)

magda
20 years ago
CH doesn't send any suckers to cling. There are tiny sort of hairs in the back of the canes that it uses to cling. They are practically invisible when you look at the plant from the front. And, congratulatiions on the blooms :)
quinessentialrose
20 years ago
My climbing hydrangea is now three years old and still hasn't bloomed. How long must I wait? I also have several canes that don't seem to want to cling to the brick facade of my house while others seem to have taken to it straightaway.
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rorypa
20 years ago
You need to be patient with this plant - it is very slow to get going. I don't know why yours won't climb. Mine is planted 2' from the wall and has found the wall on its own and climbed about 6' and spread the same. I trim back branches the get onto the porch or walk way. It also a scrambling along the ground of the bed it is planted in.
marthagrace
20 years ago
Don't know what it is about this season but many climbing hydrangeas are blooming that I hadn't expected to see blooms on for a long time. I find that it is new shoots that set hold fasts for climbing and that if you prune after bloom to encourage new growth you will encourage fresh shoots more likey to cling than older runners.
both
Original Author
20 years ago
The hydrangeas have hairs that used to cling to the one foot wooden trellace that they came with. No hairs are attaching to the fence or the tree. When I had a problem getting my boston ivy to climb I duck taped it to the garage then it started to stick. Thought about doing that with the climbing hydrangea. I can't prune my hydrangea because they are so small, canes are only about two foot long. I don't know why yours will not bloom. I know they are ok in the shade but I have heard that too much shade will not give blooms. At our botanical garden in Chicago it is planted in full sun. One of mine is in full sun, the other is climbing up a 30 foot tree that has a trunk that is about three feet in diameter. One side of the trunk gets good sun.
bellarosa
20 years ago
Amy,
Don't you just love the Chicago Botanical Garden? I get some many ideas from them! Anyway, I don't have a climbing hydrangea, but the one at CBG is beautiful!