It sounds like a mixture of transplant shock, the arrival of summer and a sprinkle of hydrangea's usual response to higher temperatures, yodio. Hydrangeas are large leafed plants and most such plants will look droopy and wilt, especially in their first summer. Their large leaves allow moisture to escape but their roots cannot absorb water as fast or faster than they loose it. When there is an intake/outflow imbalance of moisture, they wilt.

The good news is that in future years they will do better. And the better news is that established plants usually recover on their own by nightfall or by next morning. However, if you ever see a drastic wilting episode, water immediately (1/2 gallon of water should be fine). But otherwise, just check to see if the soil feels almost dry or dry to a depth of 4". If it does, give them 1 gallon of water per small plant; otherwise wait until next morning. And if it has not recovered by next morning, give it 1/2 gallon of water. You will notice that the suggestion in there is water 1g (small plant) when the soil is almost dry or dry & half that much when there is a bad wilting episode.

Your goal is not to be watering daily because this can result in root rot. So in that sense, you could argue that hydrangeas can get too wet. The constant water on their roots makes it hard to absorb oxygen and promotes fungal infections that, once started, are difficult to recover from. The symptoms of root rot mirror those of lack of water (wilting, etc) because the affected roots cannot absorb water as easily as they did before and the leaves do not receive the amount of moisture that they need.

The best way to control soil moisture is with 3-4" of mulch past the drip line and check the soil moisture by hand for 1-2 weeks daily every now and then. Insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4". If it feels dry or almost dry then water 1g; otherwise skip watering. Make a note on a wall calendar every time that you have to water. After 1-2 weeks you will notice a pattern developing (you have to water every 2/3/4/etc days). Then set your sprinkler to water 1g of water on that frequency. If the temperatures vary by 10-15 degrees and stay there, re-check using this method again.

You can replant the Lady in Red a little higher if you wish to correct the problem. That happens to most people at some point. Remember that Lady in Red is not good in Zone 5 though so when the plant goes dormant and the leaves dry out in the fall, you will need to apply winter protection techniques.

It is probably not necessary to fertilize this year as the potting soil that came with the plant is probably chock full of those fertilizer pellets that nurseries use. Next year, just add about 1 cup of cottonseed meal or manure in June and that is it. Weak fertilizers like liquid fish, liquid seaweed and coffee grounds can also be added during the growing season but stop all fertilizing in August-September to force the plant to go into dormant mode for winter.

Does that help you, yodio?
Luis

Wow Luis,

You are wonderful!

Thanks for all that information.
I showered the leaves lightly yesterday evening (per my mother-in-law) and when I went to check it this morning it looked much perkier. So I think you were exactly right, I had thought it was getting plenty of water from all the rain and my constant watering (the soil was always damp, and I have a bed of oak leaf mulch all around it), but the moisture intake/outflow was imbalanced.

I planted the hydrangeas in a mix of manure, cottonburr compost, and peat moss, with a little Espoma plant starter. So I'm not too concerned about fertilization this year. However, I do have worries about Lady in Red making it through the winter! It's beside a huge flowering quince, and up against the north side of the house, as I said. I plan to make a chicken wire cage all around and stuff it with oak leaves. Don't know if it'll be enough. Let's just make it through the summer first, though!

Luis...I'm simply posting because your info is always so
very helpful AND correct :):). I love to read your answers
because you've given me advice on my lacecaps. By the way,
because we didn't get that late frost/freeze...YEAH!!!!!
I have some blooms this year and I noticed today that they
are still coming. Sooooooo, apparently the problem is just
that...late frost and freezes. I'll make sure to cover them
from now on. I also plan to propagate by layering. I have
one stem that did it on its on and it's beautiful.

Margaret

Sounds good yodio. May I make one last suggestion? Water the soil instead of the leaves. In the case of hydrangeas and azaleas, that tends to cause fungal infections of all types and just plain ole leaf spot can be aggravated if one waters the leaves often. It is a lesson learned the hard way with some azaleas.

Margaret, glad to hear that your plants are doing well. When do you plan to start layering? I ran into an unexpected problem out of the blue the first time I tried and had to give it up. For whatever reason, one of my pooches became interested in the rock I was trying to use to hold down the stems. Go figure. I kept finding it moved. The dog was with me when I made that attempt at layering so perhaps she thought it was some kind of game. Next time, I may keep the dogs inside the house, were they cannot see me.... Hee hee hee!

Actualy, Luis...I don't have any planned time to try this
layering. I figure that I'll anchor a few now and more later, as I have two LARGE plants, so....I don't have much
to loose. I believe in experimenting with what I'm not
sure about :):)
Have a great summer...things are really heating up
around here. HOT, HOT, HOT

Margaret