I broke down and got one in Minnesota last weekend. I payed $35.00 but am hoping to propogate it. It is really beautiful, but droops every afternoon, which I read is normal for this plant. They had gotten 50 of them in and sold out the same day. I got the last one!!
Mary

We drove by Iowa City landscape last night (after they closed) and I saw the sign.

Do you think its worth the price? I have had several "Annabelles" die -- but according to yesterday Times, I might be sighting them wrong. I've been putting them in full sun. And I'd hate to lose a $45.00 shrub.

Are these picking about light or water? Please tell me what you know about them.

Cathy

Macrophylla hydrangeas are certainly fussier than Annabelle,but not bad. There must be something very unusual
involved with the death of your Annabelles, as they may wilt their leaves during a hot afternoon, but you can't kill them with a stick. The mopheads are a little more touchy in terms of wilting, but once they get their roots down, that stops pretty much. Afternoon shade, loose, acidic soil, don't plant too deep, and bark mulch are the ticket. Hard to kill, but getting them to bloom is another
story, which is why Endless Summer seems to be so exciting.
It apparently is no hardier than Nikko Blue,in terms of stem hardiness (maybe even less stem hardy) but it blooms
also on new wood and is truly remontant, so it blooms all
Summer. We'll see. Hopefully it's not another great foliage
plant in my garden.

I hope they are as hardy as they promote. I just bought 6, 5 gal size for $49. Out go the under performing Nikko's and in go the Endless. Nikk's bloomed in 2000 when new and not since.

John

Cathy: don't plant your Endless Summer in full sun - an ideal spot would be an east side of a building where the plant receives good sun for most of the day and then some shade from mid afternoon on - in full sun this plant will flag in the late afternoon sun and heat. Hope your soil is good - if not, amend with compost, and I'd recommend a layer of wood mulch.

I can vouch for the hardiness of this plant - but, will warn you that it acts like a herbaceous perennial and can die down quite hard each winter. The joy of this plant is that it does form flower buds on new wood and will continue to form flowers all summer long. In low pH soils, the flowers will be blue, in higher pH soils the flower will be pink.

Good luck to you all with Endless Summer. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer them. If you go to some of my posts in the Hydrangea forum, you will find lots of cultural information on this plant.

Happy Spring! PP (a Minnesota gal with in-laws in Iowa)

I'm just wondering - since this original post was from last year - how did everyone do with their Endless Summer Hydrangeas? Did they perform as expected? Please let me know - I'm hoping to have a hydrangea soon and didn't know there were problems with keeping them going in Iowa (I see them all over Des Moines). Just wondering how this variety did. Thanks!
Janet

Just another quick post on this --- Pauls in Clinton have a 3 gallon container of "Endless Summer" hydrangea for only $19.99 -- and they were very good looking plants. SOOOO one just happened to jump in the truck with me!!!

So now its time to find the perfect site for it.

Cathy

Yippee! Just checked out my E.S.'s planted late last summer. All had died back basically to the ground during the winter, but the new growths coming up from the base all have little flower buds!Got to go get some aluminum sulphate so they turn out blue.Apparently as they bloom you need to deadhead them to keep them "endlessly blooming" and I guess I'll fertilize them too.
Don

I went over to Paul's in Clinton & got an Endless Summer H. today. Very nice! They had a lot of them. This is a very good garden center.Iris