Hi Jon,

My guess is that the while hyndrangea you had there previously was paniculata which can handle full sun. ES being a macrophylla really needs a little shade. Can you rig up some shade for the time being while these guys establish themselves?

Having said that, my neighbor has a row of Nikkos in full sun all day. They never quite look as good as they could, and there's plenty of afternoon wilting, but they never do what your ES's are doing. I'm hoping it's *just* an establishing thing.

As far as posting pics go, I just upload to photobucket.com. When the pic is ready, I just copy the TAG LINE (not the url or img line) and paste in into my message.

Good luck!

~MH

Thanks, Do they make endless summer Hydrangias that Can take the full sun?

I went to look at it today and it was a little worse. It seesm that some of the leaves edges are getting a dark purple color. Some of the surfaces of the leaves are turning white in spots and getting stiff. Thought some leaves, at least for now, look healthy. The soil is mostly sand.It is getting pleanty of water
Its hard to believe just sun is doing this.

I call this problem transplant shock and agree with mehearty and her suggestions. Once the plant is well established -takes a year or so- it will handle things better than it is doing now.

Remember, it grew accustomed to being in a nursery -possibly with little direct sun exposure- so it is now having difficulty with the full sun location. But many ESs grow in full sun in the northern half of the country! This one should do well in Michigan too.

Symptoms of too much sun: the leaves look bleached, turn yellow or white in certain areas of the leaves. See if you can get some wire mesh or cloth above it to give it some shade in the afternoon. Every 1-2 weeks, move the material so the plant gets more sun until there is no more need for it. If the plant gets sunscald again, slow down the process.

Keep your ES mulched with 4" of mulch to help prevent water loss and keep soil moisture levels as constant as anyone can in sandy soil. Water the soil from the base of the plant (not the leaves) towards the drip line. ONLY WATER WHEN THE SOIL FEELS DRY OR ALMOST DRY; insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 3-4". Check the soil moisture daily and, after a while, you will notice how often you end up having to water (every two days? three days? etc). Then set the sprinkler, hoses or drip irrigation on that schedule.

Because your soil is sandy, it leaches/loses water easily. It also means that you must water more and more frequently than someone in clayish soil like I. Try watering from 1.5g-2g of water 2 times a week and be ready to increase to 3 days a week in the summer. How do those amounts of water compare with the amount of water that you have been supplying so far? Are you watering more than that, less, about the same?

Since your ES's first summer is approaching, expect wilting of the leaves during some summer days. If it looks extreme, water immediately but otherwise let the plant recover on its own. Most plants will be ok by bed time. A good rule of thumb is to water when the plant remains wilted too long (by the next morning); and right you water it on the next morning, a-l-s-o increase the number of days that you water with the sprinkler system from two to three. Just remember to reduce watering in the Fall as temperatures moderate.

I am concerned about the leaves that you say are getting "a dark purple color" though. There are some fungal infections that could cause that, specially if you water the leaves or if there is no air flow around the plant. Can you post pictures? A close up of the leaves (top & bottom and one of the bush)?

You did not mention anything about fertilizing the plant or adding any other types of soil ammendments. What have you done so far (how much, how often) in this area? I am trying to figure out if the plant could be getting too much of "something" too.

Good luck jon1,
Luis

Thanks, I have fertalized it with mericle Grow Blooming fertalizer. The thing is, I have several david Austin roses, lavender, burning bushes, and enuymous plants all with in a few feet of this Hydrangia, and they are all doing great. The roses are triple what they were two weeks ago.

the purple is only on the edges of the leaves ends, some are also getting stiff, and it looks like the chloraphyl is leaving them.

I have some protective plastic fencing that I have used around the rosed in the past. The fence comes an a roll. I may double or triple it in thickness an put it in front of the hydrangia.
I can take a pick and e-mail it too you

Do you think this is just a stage the plant is going through as it adjust to its new enviroment?

This is what confuses me. I've been reading this post and there's talk of disease problems and poor air circulation. Well having these plants in part shade would lead me to think that a house or trees are shading the ES hydrangea. How can you get good air circulation with trees our house blocking the sun? I just got my first ES hydrangea and it is wilting at 6 pm and it has been in the shade since noon. I probably messed up by moving it when I discovered yesterday it was getting sun until 2 pm which is probably too much sun. I should have left it in the pot to test sun exposure. I'm in north east zone 8 and it gets sun from 8 am until 12. I may get a bit more before the days are as long as they will get soon. My shade is my house so the exposure is north and east. Air flow will be a problem in the summer since we get more south west wind. I'm hoping it will get better this week as the temperatures are suppose to relax back to 80 instead of 90. I have been misting the leaves late in the day allowing for drying time before night since the ground is moist I think the syringe effect may cool the plant a bit.

I think I am having a similar problem.... I planted my hydrangea about 3 weeks ago. Some of the leaves are now turning a bit brown, in a sunburnt kind of way. The flowers look very wilted. Overall the plant just looks sad.

I will try to give it a little shade and mulch it a bit more.

Steven9,
The Hydrangias are in full sun, with southern exposier. They have pleanty of air circulation. The leaves have some brown on them. Though I think they dont look as wilted.