There are certain varieties of hydrangea macrophyllas that will bloom well in Zone 5 but most will not do well there. The problem is the cold temperatures kill the flower buds. Thus you end with a nice plant with nice leaves but no flowers.

To compensate, some people apply winter protection techniques while others simply choose hydrangea macrophyllas that are rated good in Zone 5. An example is the Endless Summer varieties.

That variety blooms several times during the growing season so it does not care if the flower buds from the fall are wiped out by cold winter temperatures or not.

Examples of winter protection techniques involve covering the plant's stems in the fall with lots of dried leaves. You can put something like chicken wire around the plant and then fill it with leaves. For more details, do a search in this forum for the words winter protection; or look at the one that I linked to below.

Does that help you?
Luis

Here is a link that might be useful: Overwintering Hydrangea Macrophylla Winter Protection Thread

Did you trim it? Sometimes they don't bloom if you trim them all the way back. My mom gave me that piece of advice for our neighbor (who hadn't seen a bloom on any of her hydrangeas in several years). The neighbor didn't trim hers at all the next year and they've been loaded with blooms every year since. We are in northern Illinois, and I don't know what kind of hydrangeas she has, but I don't even cover up my Endless Summer. It's on the southeast corner of our house, sort of protected, and we just let it do whatever back there.
Good luck and green thumbs!

Hi,
I am trying to find out if I should plant Hyrdangeas or not. I live in Arlington, Texas. My soil is slightly acidic. I was thinking of roses, hydrangeas and not sure what else. I planted some asiatic lillies that were beautiful blooms for about 3 weeks but are now gone. Will they bloom again or not till next year? I want a tropical looking flower around my pool. I have a hibiscus and plan on banana trees but I want something that has pretty long lasting flowers. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Tracy

Thanks everyone for your posts. My mother is the one who planted it and she also took care of it from 2006-2007. Now I am working on that part of the yard and since we dont have a name...its a bit difficult to know how to work with it. I will ask her if she pruned it. I pruned it this year. Everything that I pruned was dead and dry. I see all new growth on different barks that are now coming up.

I planted some AnnaBells in the back and I hope to see some flowers this year.

Tracy, hardy hibiscus and hydrangeas should thrive in our area. I have hibiscus getting sun until 4-5pm while hydrangeas stop getting sun by 11-12pm. However, here are some pointers:

* Hydrangeas cannot tolerate our summer sun so give them morning sun up to 11 or 12pm (or less). More than that and the leaves will completely yellow out or bleach.

* Hydrangeas need moist soil and about 4" of any type of acidic mulch PAST the drip line.

Start with the manual or finger method: Water the soil under/around them early in the mornings IF the soil feels dry or almost dry to a depth of 4". Otherwise skip watering that day. If you notice that you water every 3/4/5 days, set your sprinkler to water 1g of water on that same frequency. Re-test with the manual method when temps change (up or down) by 10-15 degrees and stay there.

* Water the soil once a week or once every two weeks during winter if there is no precipitation. Water the soil on the night before days with wind advisories. Note that I try to water the soil and not the shrub (leaves) as this reduces fungal issues on any plant by the fall.

* The plants will wilt during their first summer but wilting episodes will be reduced once they get established in about one year. If you see a hydrangea with extreme wilting, give it water right away. Otherwise, water it the next morning if the plant has not recuperated by then. You may notice that, in most cases, the shrubs will recover by bed time (10pm or later) all on their own.

* Use 1/2 cup of cottonseed meal or manure in March and July only. Apply weak fertilizers like coffee grounds, liquid seaweed or liquid fish during the growing season. Stop all fertilizing in August/September in order to prepare the plant for winter.

* If you ever have to do any pruning, do it by the end of July. Varieties that bloom on old wood will begin to develop flower buds starting in August so pruning them in August might result in no blooms next spring.

* The most common varieties in the area are Macrophyllas, Quercifolias (Oak Leafs) and Serratas. Within these, choose whatever you like. You can find hydrangeas at Lowes, HD, Calloways, Redentas and the Internet. While I prefer the selection at Calloways & Redentas, it is still small compared to that of Internet/mail-order companies.

* Most of our soils here are alkaline and that makes colored hydrangea blooms be a shade of pink. I am surrpsied that your soil is slightly acidic but a few areas near lakes have sandy soil which is acidic. If your soil is truly acidic then consider yourself lucky. If it is alkaline then hydrangeas will appreciate amendments like garden sulphur or iron-chelated liquid products once in spring to keep iron chlorosis in check and soil pH closer to neutral or acid. If you want to battle with the soil acidity levels in order to get blue or blu-er blooms on colored hydrangeas, apply aluminum sulphate or garden sulphur to acidify your soil so the shade of color is what you want. Check the label directions always as aluminum sulphate -for example- is poisonous to azaleas & other plants.

Does this help?
Luis