hydrangeas leafing out

18 years ago

We moved into a new house in the fall that came with three smallish hydrangeas. We're in Massachusetts. I have two questions:

1. I think they are either Endless Summer or Nikko Blue. I have avoided pruning until I could tell what kind they are. How do I tell the difference?

2. They are leafing out now. There are lots of leaves/new shoots from the base of the plant, but the old wood is still mostly bare sticks--a few of the old branches are starting to get leaves, but most are still bare (with tiny brownish buds). Is that normal?

Thanks!

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Comments (8)

vintagegardener
18 years ago
Do not prune your hydranges as it grows off the old wood.The tiny brownish spots you are see is actually the leaf bud emerging.

The bare sticks will be full of leaves in no time.I do not know how to tell if you have endless summer or nikko blue.

You can also google how to care for hydrangeas.They do get pruned a little at times.

They are so beautiful and you will enjoy them!
anitamo
18 years ago
Does it look like mine? I took this pic about 3 weeks ago. It has small buds along the "sticks" and I'm glad to hear they are leaf buds. Last year I cut it down in early spring, and I never got any blooms. This year I've decided to let it be. So far it looks pretty sad. It's in it's fourth year.
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Lalala (zone 6b)
Original Author
18 years ago
Yes, it looks like yours! except maybe a couple of weeks farther along (I'm in a warmer zone). Mine has a bit more foliage around the base, and about 3-4 of the canes have leaves emerging. Some of the canes are clearly dead, but some I'm still hoping will grow leaves.

Thanks for the advice.
slydawg
18 years ago
thats nikko blue. endless summer has far more branches and is wider by year 4.
Missy, Traverse City, Mi Z5
11 years ago
my endless summer, which is several years old, never got bigger than that, so I don't think that necessarily means it is Nikko blue.

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October_Gardens
11 years ago
Nikkos and ES can be hard to distinguish. All I can really say is that ES almost always forms flower buds on new canes, whereas Nikkos typically do not (but not never).

For early ID, I'd say that my Nikko's young leaves appear slightly more "jagged" or "disheveled" around the edges when a new cane is still in sprout-mode. Also the Nikko's young leaves are a tad less fuzzy underneath, a bit more glossy on top, and maybe a hair darker in color - compared to ES.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 years ago
Although this is a very old thread and I'm not sure of its relevance, I would never attempt to distinguish Nikko Blue from Endless Summer based on the photo above. And I'm not sure size has much to do with it with regards to the photo. Endless Summer The Original only gets to be about half the size of a mature Nikko - 4'x5' (maybe) compared to 6'x10'. A mature Nikko Blue is a massive hydrangea.

In my climate, Nikko is a pretty reliable rebloomer. It was part of the parentage of Endless Summer for this reason.
Lalala (zone 6b)
Original Author
11 years ago
It's funny to see this old thread revived! I had just moved into my house when I wrote the original post and knew nothing about gardening. My hydrangeas are definitely Endless Summer!