Ego45, it is sort of upright spreading. I have never pruned it, just stood back and watched. Here is a shot of more of the plant, from yesterday too......

Stunning!
I must have it.
Does it go thru color changes in a fall as other conventional lacecaps?

Here is one of my lacecaps, which I love...
{{gwi:1005465}}

I have misplaced the tag of my Lace Cap, but it is pink with a white center. The plant came from the flower section of a grocery store 3 years ago. It lived in the pot outside for one winter and was planted the second year, and it bloomed, That was last year. This year it has outrageously large leaves and healthy looking stems, but not one sign of a flower. Not even a bud of a flower.
It is planted between a camelia bush and a rhodie. Could the fertilizers used for the camelia and rhodie been too much for the lace cap? Please, if you know, will the plant flower next year if the fertilizer is not applied? I have no way to send pics. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Donna PNW - Washington State

I had a hedge of Lanarth White and I was in love with them. So elegant, romantic, robust-- what more can you ask for--they were in part shade moist soil.
Sorry, I can't figure out how to post my pics.Tabby

Hello, Donna1952. Not a single bud? Wow! I will give you some suggestions to see if any applies to your situation.

First, hydrangeas do not require much food (I use cottonseed meal but manure or any slow release fertilizer will do) in May & July and that is it. The camellias get no more cottonseed meal after July and the azaleas get nothing or get some Hollytone in Spring. How does that compare with what you have been doing? If you are fertilizing too much, all that nitrogen could be affecting the hydrangea... making it grow great green leaves and nothing else. So,

1. Go easy with the fertilizer. Use 1/4 cup scattered around the drip line of a small shrub and 1-2 cups for a large plant. I wish there was a quick nitrogen fertilizer meter that one could stick in the ground but lacking that, a soil test might be in order if the other comments do not help you diagnose the problem. And while talking about using meters, I assume that your soil has no PH problems (as in way too alkaline or way too acidic)?

2. Make sure that you give the plant TLC during the summer as buds begin forming in July or thereabouts.

3. Florist Hydrangeas tend to be notoriously weak and cold weather could have killed the buds. If I had to bet on what happened to your flower buds, I would bet on this one.

4. All three plants that you have planted together require some sun in order to flower their best so make sure that they are not in full shade. Some sun does not mean full sun either so make sure they get less than 6 hours of sun.

Good luck,
Luis

gaalan, have you seen Geoffrey Chadbund? It is another I had considered. I will have to ck out Jogasaki now. Thanks for that suggestion.

Tabby, a hedge would be awesome but I would need to plant a few more trees! Hee hee hee

Luis

Just lovely Alan!!.....yg

I really like Jogasaki too. It's been in my wish list for some time now. But lately, it's hard to keep up with garden works. A lot of my hydrangea shrubs need weeding.

Luis, Thanks so much for your help to me regarding my pink and white lace cap hydrangea. I hope that it will snap out of this unusual non-blooming status. I may have over fed the area, as you mentioned, because I have never seen such wonderful new growth on the camelia and the rhodi. Both of them bloomed their heads off too. They are rather protected from extreme weather patterns where they are, but we had some cold winter weather here this past winter.
I water often even if it rains, as they are under the eves, and face south, with warm morning sun. My other random hydrangeas are either all in bloom, or setting their flower heads. The Lace Cap may be stubborn? Maybe I should take a cutting from it and try to duplicate the plant? Thanks again, Luis. Donna Pacific Northwest - Washington

Hello, Donna. Yes, an unusually cold spell can affect the bloomage when the hydrangea is planted outside of its hardiness zone, when planting a Florist Hydrangea (your case) or when lack of water also affects the plant.

I had an azalea that hardly bloomed this year.Azalea buds form the previous summer and Texas has had a bad drought since last summer. Then temps got unusually cold once in December, which is not good for weakened plants. My azalea was not damaged but it did bloom poorly and about 10-20% of Crape Myrtles Shrubs in the area were affected in some way.

Because you might have fed the hydrangea too much fertilizer & because the azalea/rhodo fertilizers might have goten to the hydrangea, it may have too much nitrogen. Give it another year and baby it through the summer/fall.

If none of these actions bear fruit, replace it by a named cultivar that can handle Zone 8 winters. If it was planted it in a container, you would have the flexibility of bringing it indoors when very cold weather approached but, oh well!

You are not the only one with this problem though. I was just reading some threads about a similar problem with a hydrangea named Pia in Zone 5. The people in Zone 5 were not getting much bloomage and they did not want to take tiresome/unusual steps to winter protect when all they had to do was switch to another type of hydrangea that required less maintenance.

Good luck,
Luis

Oops, I left out this link from the above message.

Here is a link that might be useful: Forced Hydrangeas, Tender Azaleas and Forced Miniature Roses

I have Purple tiers which is new since the summer - this is it's first time blooming. It is amazingly beautiful. I got 3 different lace caps and Purple tiers is by far the prettiest. As soon as I get a disc for my camera I'll get a pic and post it.

Maureen

Ego it has been aging to a parchment/off white, actually pretty nondescript once past prime. It is even more stunning, to me, in pink(what it does in containers at work).

Luis, I don't recall having seen Geoffrey Chadbund at the nursery before. We may have had it at some point, just don't remember. Lanarth White is also a very nice lacecap.

Dicentra, very nice plant. Looks like Lilacina, is it?

YG, thanks. That plant makes me look like I know what I'm doing, which is way far from reality. All I did was plant, it did all the hard work!

Maureen, I agree, Purple Tiers is outstanding. We have several in the ground that bloom the last two weeks before we close for summer. When people see them, our stock of Purple Tiers sells out very quickly!

Do I understand correctly that 'Purple Tiers" and "Miyama-yae-Murasaki" are the same plants?

Ego,

That is my understanding....yg

Here's a picture of 'Libelle', a beautiful white lacecap. This isn't a very good picture of it, but I highly recommend it.

The fuchsia among the hydrangeas is very lovely. I wish I could grow fuchsia in my zone.

Lainey

I bought 'Purple Tiers' this year and it had one bloom on it that is pink in color. I know that next year it will have many more blooms and that they will most likely be blue in our acidic soils. The one flower looks lovely and I have visions of how it will look next year. Last year I bought and planted 2 H. serrata 'Blue Bird'. The plants had a mix of blue and pink and combination colors on them last year; the blooms were few also. This year they are covered in blooms and they are all blue! If I added sulfur or soil acidifier to the surrounding soil, will next year's blooms be purple?

If you soil is naturally acidic, you'll have a purple (of different degrees) blooms on Purple Tiers the very next year and more it will be in a ground the more purple it will be.
Also, pink in it become more and more darker as season progresses and originally pink flowers turning into violet and then into purple

I wouldn't be messing with aluminum sulphate with either two of you mentioned, Blue Bird and Purple Tiers.

My lacecap...I have no idea what kind...but I think it's just gorgeous! I always think of a lavender ring of butterflies whenever I look at this bloom.

Hi Lacecap lovers - I hope to revive this thread - 'been searching for Miyama-yae-Murasaki thread and glad to see this and ... drooling over Jogasaki !!! Except for color, looks like MyM absolutely beautiful ... how do you compare the 2 Gaalan?

Ego45 I viewed once more your MyM photos posted in one of Hayseedman's Overwintering thread and am hoping ask a couple of ??
In that thread I posted about the Purple Tiers I brought home from NC in late Oct - temps were already tolling the bells of Winter and planted her in a shaded N strip. I followed Hay's and your advice to protect as I would Nikko - the result was a success and must have bloomed early. I left for NC the end of May and tiny cluster buds were already forming - by the time I returned, perhaps due to dry and hot mid Jun, the fertile centers of the blooms dried up on several of them and a couple blossoms that opened after more frequent waterings are w/out the fertile centers and are absolutely lovely clusters of double florets.

Also lots of new growth are coming up this 2nd wk in Jul - the early blossoms drying up - can I expect a few more blossoms from these new growths?

'hope to read your input and TIA

Dita, not quite sure of what you are asking, but no, MyM is not a rebloomer and to 'expect a few more blossoms from these new growths' wouldn't be reasonable.
Apparently we (you and me) have very different climatic/growing conditions since my MyM only start blooming in 3rd week of June and just now beginning petering/fading little bid. Still it has at least full week of bloom ahead.

Sorry Ego45 - I wasn't clear - I was wondering if it is not uncommon for MyM blossoms to miss having the fertile centers on some? Thanks for response to 2nd ? !
Also how long to expect color to change to purple? Not that I mind the different colors I notice in her.

Have you experience with Big Smile? All 3 of mine are doing much better than MyM, all the blooms are in different stages ... such a delight!!!

So glad you responded to this thread ... Thanks :) !

Yes, some flowerheads on MyM have none of the sterile centers whatsoever and some have very small centers.
Re: Big Smile/Sweet Chris.
I received two 6-8" rooted cuttings of it last fall.
They are blooming right now, but I reserve my opinion on them untill next year. The only thing I could say so far is that it seems to be a robust grower.

I am quite pleased with all 3 - got them last May to support Children's Cancer Fund Raiser - 1gal pots already with blooms - with promises of maturing to merlot and foliage that turn to beautiful Fall ... colors did not disappoint :) !!!

I didn't expect the blooms to come early (Jun) and still throwing new ones and indeed quite robust grower, I agree - even the one just relocated last May caught up in size with the other 2. I did overwinter with wire cages filled with Autumn leaves and burlapped around the cages ... did not undress until Mom's Day ... a rule of thumb in our Z. Some of the fertile centers are drying up on the first ones that opened up. The young buds are beautiful clusters of sagey grn, peachy pnk & mauve.

What can you say about Royal Majestics (Midnight Duchess) H, any opinion? I picked up one without blooms from HD - tag claims tested well in z5 with protection.

Appreciate input!

'tag claims tested well in z5 with protection.'

LOL! Right, and Enziandom and all Teller's could bloom in z5 with protection if you could create the right one for those z7 plants.

I have a Queen of Pearl from the RM series.
It's new, so no opinion yet, except that foliage is extremely(!) dark and relatively small in comparison to other macs. Blooms are steel/cold white maturing to green pretty fast. Be it just a juvenile/forced thing or permanent attribute I don't know yet. Will see next year.

By the way I didn't specify on Big Smile - this is their second year (planted May '06) they all, now measure almost 2ft htx29"wd and loaded with blooms & cluster buds.

ON MD/RM series, yes, folliage quite dark and robust 'am hoping for some blooms yet this season - will update if and when she does.

Thanks again!

Marge26 - Your ... "lavender ring of butterflies" is absolutely gorgeous indeed!!! I know you posted this last year - 'hope you'll check in sometime to let us know her name if you remembered.

"wonder if anyone might know this lovely variety?

George and Ditas, where on earth are you pics of Big Smile? I would LOVE to see them!

I saw Bits of Lace blooming at a local garden center today. It's very pretty!

Since I only have one lacecap in my yard, I guess it has to be my "favorite" by default! LOL! Anyway, it's my Claudie in a container. It's blooming right now and oh-so-pretty! Hope you like it.

Here is my Claudie (in container as well)

My Big Smile is nothing to write home about, even less to photograph :-))

Ah ha! George, I didn't know you have a Claudie too! So, how do you like it? Isn't it also new to your home?

Yes, it's new for me this year and permanent place is still undetermined.
I'd like to see how it will age and if it will provide August-Sept interest it will be featured individualy. If not, it will go into mixed hydrangeas bed.

Talking about favorites I still rate Tokyo Delight and Grayswood as my #1-2
TD

Grayswood

Both provide excellent fall display of transitioned colors.

George, I am so tempted to get a Tokyo Delight, because it is really beautiful! I loved it when I saw your pics, then I went to my local nursery, I loved it even more. However, I just don't have any space for it... so I am exercising total self-control here!!! Sigh...

Maybe I should just lose control and go and get one anyway!? Ha...

Do you want me to enable you? :-))

GEORGE!!! This is too much.... I think I am gonna get it....!!!

George, I just came back from the nursery that has a lot of Tokyo Delight... guess what? They all have cercospora spots covering all of them! Even though they are on sale, I really don't want to bring any home!!! What a shame... maybe I will try somewhere else... sigh....

Wow George you have the most beautiful collection of lacecaps and such a wonderful woodland setting!!!

Would you know if Jogasaki is difficult to find?

Ostrich - I love your Claudie!!! Why the difference in color with George's?

About my photos to post ... they are still sitting in my IPhoto file ... one of these days one of the kids will set up a p-bucket (whatever that is) for me to be able to share (I'm horribly embarrassed ... am not computer savvy :(( All I know is how to plug the dig-cam and save photos on file ... soon I hope!

Ditas, as I understand, Claudie does also change color with the soil acidity. Mine is actually a bit more purplish than it shows in the picture, which shows a more pinkish color.

Anyway, though I think that my Claudie is lovely, I am not sure that it is necessarily any prettier than many other lacecaps. However, I can tell you that the foliage has been absolutely beautiful - deep green and shiny, always looking fresh and clean! Now, if only they would turn color during fall too... we shall see!

Hi
Hydrangea 'Jokasaki' from Japan can be sold under the name
H.'Fireworks'; in N.Z. and England it carries this name.
R.

Thank you Rodja ... just wonder though, why 'Fireworks' ... perhaps from the triple burst of blue huh? My Miyama yae Murasaki (AKA Purple Tiers) a japanese H too, has the same features but purplish pink. I'm quite interested in pairing Jogasaki with her (in 2008).

I'm digging up some of my hostas in the site and move some of my Astilbe for softness ... what do you think George?

Ostrich - Big Smile's buds are quite pretty too - sagey grn, soft pink and soft lavender but centers mature quickly to fuzzy purple puffs as outer sterile florets mature into her changes of colors - BTW, outer sterile florets are fringed. Her wonders are in her florets maturing to merlot as her foliage (toothed w/ red veins & petioles - stems are spotted with merlot) go through the Fall color changes :)) !

Ditas, what do I think?
What should I think? :-))
Astilbes and hostas are natural cultural companions for hydrangeas. The only thing is you have to take into consideration time of bloom, color and size for astilbes and shape and color of leaves for the hostas.
I found that you can't use too bold of variegation in hostas next to lacecaps as that will contradict with their subtle lacy appearance when in bloom and will draw unnecessary attention to them when they'll be aging.
On another side, plain solid green hostas will just blends with hydrangeas and will not do any good. I'm trying to use green/yellow variegated hostas with lacecaps.

Contrary, with macs, especially the blue one, using brightly variegated hostas makes both plants standout.

To find the right astilbe(s) wouldn't be that easy since their bloom time coincides with hydrangeas and I think that trial and error method would be your best helper, unless you have a superior 'vision'.
I don't:

Wow George - I wish I could be Fairie, find a little toadstool or a birdhouse to rent and tour your oasis of a garden ... will even offer to sprinkle your amazing collection for the duration of the tour !!!

This 'Piece of Soil Under Iowa Skies' I call my oasis is just a regular, everyday piece of soil, chainlink-fenced for keeping the 4 dogs & kids alike, over the years - the lower tier in back that was the kids' and dogs' mini soccer & frisbee field now houses hosta plantation, butterfly strip and perennial island beds. Try as I did to create a quasi woodland ... the chainlink fence just doesn't quite cut it! The top tier has gone through some evolution too ... from swingset to 4-leaf-clover shaped herb island patch etc etc etc.

So ... I thank you profoundly for the inspiration, I'll keep trying as long as I'm still able to dig and sink and love playing in the dirt and not to mention a bit of lunacy ... I will have a beautibul oasis of a garden ... hydrangeas,hostas, astilbes, Russian sage, butterfly bush etc etc etc ... for beauty is always under construction right? :))

Hi George - I'm starting to plan a make-over of the N part-shade foundation strip where I have a row of old but beautiful hostas - will dig up some and replace and add lacecap H and Astilbe. I won't have the space for drama but it will be pleasing enough. Last Fall I sank in MyM in one end already with a make-over in mind.

I just went back to Hay's Overewintering thread to look at the photo you posted to show the effect of H, H & A combo - what I thought was Astilbe, close to your Midoriboshi T - Cimicifuga atropurpurea - looks great, her plumes so lush & tall! Can you tell a bit about her?

I picked up a couple of Key Largo A fr HD on sale - a Jul-Aug bloomer in raspbery pink. 'will use 1 for this shady strip along with others I have and think to relocate here.

TIA :-)

Dita, you are correct, last year I HAD Cimicifuga (now they call it Actea) next to MyM, but since then hydrangea had been moved.
Actualy that was a good combo in terms of color coordination and bloom time. MyM have a pale(ish) green leaves which contrasts very well with dark leaves of Actea. While hydrangea is in bloom only foliage on actea is present and then, later in a season when MyM was doing nothing (it doesn't have anything interesting to show after the bloom time) actea start blooming.
I have similar combo in another part of the same bed, but instead of dark leaved and late blooming A.ramosa I inadvertently planted early blooming and plain green A.racemosa and the whole effect was immediately lost. Have to redo that part in a fall.
re:Key Largo. I don't have that one, but believe it's an offspring of Sprite and as such is also fairly short as its parent, so its proper place should be at the edge of the border, it will be lost if planted near hydrangeas.
If you like deep green finely cut foliage of all Astilbe simplicifolia group, Gloria Purpurea will be your better choice cause it's a full size astilbe, not a dwarf as KLargo or KWest or Sprite or HennieGraafland (my favorite of all in a group). Instead of splitting your pair of KL I'd rather plant them together-they look great en masse and beside that all A.simplicifolia are somewhat slow to spread.
As I said before, create proper H+A combo is not an easy task.
Good luck.

Hi George - Many thanks for the tips on H+H (lacecap)+A combo.

The more I look at the photos you have posted I'm getting tempted to completely eliminate mowing grass in the entire lower tier of the backyard and compose it with just pebble or flagstone walks. I can start with the shaded back half (2-3 hrs of early AM sun & perhaps 45min-1hr of setting sun) the home of most of my 4-5 varieties of Hostas - 3 layers under the corner Crab apple tree (turns beautifully red with fruits for the birds in Winter). The rest of that border measures 32ft Lx7ft (dpth) also houses 3 layers of hostas and groundcovered by White Nancy, Shell Pink & Arch Angel Lamium. I've already sank in Alice at the end where my sunny butterfly border starts, I may want to keep the taller Hostas that are now just shooting up with their buds (have lovely jasminey scent in Aug - DK name) ... the lower growing (F wms. , Francee, & snow white?) are just done. 'will perhaps dig up a few to make room for H and would like one more Querci there too.

Well I'll have time to plan this Winter ... so glad to have found this place last year - so grateful for all the help, advice and inspiration I have received, truly!!!!!!!

BTW how far from the trunk of the tree are you able to safely put your lacecaps,- considering the frequent watering they require (re: above pics) - also how do you keep slugs away (I have to use 'Sluggo') some years ago I was told to serve them a can of beer daily in a bowl ... all got are the drunken bunnies that could not run fast enough for some preditors to get them - obviously, no more Heineken served in the Hosta plantation!!!!

These pictures are just delicious! I am definitely fronting my new 'bluebirds' (my favorite) with hostas and astilbe. BTW, I have had great luck reducing slug damage by moving any mulch out to the 'dripline' of the hostas and sprinkling a handful or two of sand around the base of the plants. Not perfect, but real good.

Many thanks Lynnfish :))! Sand would infinitely be less $$ than 'Slug-go' and surely safe for the critters around. I shall try!

Do you have pic of your 'Bluebird', 'love to have a peek. Sorry all I do is describe mine as I DK how to post pics.

Thanx again!

So sorry, no pix. Am kind of a Luddite and still have a rotary phone! Not one to be trusted with digital cameras. I, too, have some White Nancy lamium under the lacecaps and, in another area, variegated vinca. Plus, the much vilified, but ever useful impatiens as annual. They fill in the space without detracting from the elegance of the hydrangeas. Beautiful at twilight. I lost my neighboring perennials to the bunnies and the deer,(they were bad this year), so have a square yard or so to fill in. The native fern and violets also survived.
My lacecaps are planted about six feet from the trunk of a very old oak ( my tree guy estimates it to be at least 200 years old) so the shade is pretty darn shady. They seem very happy there. If you want to try the sand, go for the cheap stuff, called builder's sand. It's sharper than play sand and isn't mixed with cement like portland sand. Cheap (sharp) gravel also works. Good luck battling the slugs!

The bells of Winter is tolling and it is so beautiful everywhere you turn ... colors, colors,colors everywhere!!! The week of rain and followed by lots of sun and a snap must have done it this year for us!

Sorry got carried away! ... however, my 3 Big Smile Hs has not turned to the Fall colors as they did last Fall - they are curling from the cold but haven't yet dropped. I'd like to go ahead and cage them with mulch & fallen leaves to save the nice big fat buds ... might it be too early? We are predicted to have 4 nites of below freezing/dry & sunny days of low 40s. Is there a rule of thumb for Lacecaps?

I have covered MyM overnite, Midnight Duchess so far is holding her own.

TIA for your thoughts<:->