Unknown Hydrangea

20 years ago

I am a newbie to gardening as well as planting hydrangeas. I planted one last fall after having it on my patio. I don't know what it is. I got it from Home Depot it was in a pot with pink foil. I put it in the ground last fall. Before planting it, I let it sit in the elected location (under a cherry tree) until I was ready to plant. It did well, so I put it in the ground. This spring I saw that it survived. All of the old wood seemed to be dying so I removed it. I have great foliage but no blooms. Did I take away the blooms when I removed the old wood? Am I going to have a lush plant with no blooms or is it going to take time for it to start to bloom again? I also purchased an Endless Summer a week ago and plan on putting under the same tree. It's a big Cherry. Should I plant it some place where it will get some sun or do you think it will be okay. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
20 years ago
First, congratulations on the successful transitioning of a gift or greenhouse hydrangea to the garden - that is not always an easy process and even a rather risky one in colder zones. Your HD foil-wrapped hydrangea is a greenhouse (aka gift or florist hydrangea) plant - forced to bloom out of season and at a very compact size through manipulation of temperatures, fertilizers and growth hormones. More often than not, these are sold without cultivar names, so your mystery hydrangea could remain a mystery :-) These also tend to be less robust and vigorous as normally grown plants, so my comment about transitioning them to the landscape. Generally, these are going to be plants that thrive only at the upper end of the hardiness scale and will need winter protection in your area to encourage blooming. Yes, cutting back the deadwood probably did remove any potential for flowers this season but if you go through the process of protecting it this coming winter, you should see flowers next season. Endless Summer should be a more reliable bloomer for you, as it will not require the same degree of protection.
amethystny
Original Author
20 years ago
Thank you gardengal48 for your help. As I am a newbie, when you say to protect it, do you mean to mulch it or is there something else that needs to be done. I'm a city girl that recently moved to the burbs.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
20 years ago
Depending on what you zone you are in, you may need to do quite a bit more than mulching in winter to assure blooms on a macrophylla. If you check back through previous threads, there is an excellent one by Hayseedman on winterizing hydrangeas. Also most of the better hydrangea websites will provide good info on winter protection as well.

Fortunately, it is not something I need to worry about in my zone :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Google: winter protection of hydrangeas
mikelamoureux_hotmail_com
15 years ago
I too just received a foil wrapped hydrangea for Mothers day. I think it is a mophead. It had pink blooms. The blooms are starting to die. What do I do with the dead blooms? Do I prune it like a geranium? Will I get new blooms? Should I plant it in the ground or in a larger pot? The entire plant feels wilted.
Please advise. thank you Cyndy