I planted 10 ES in full, 9-5 sun last year. Their first year they were prone to wilt on hot days of which I usually don't get that many. This year I have not yet had any wilt and they are growing larger with lots of flowers.

Unfortunately early next spring I too will have to move some of them and I hope not to bruise them too badly. Cheers, Jk

Jack, move them while they are dormant or just starting wake up and they'll never notice transplanting act.

Lisa, thanks for sharing the story. What an "interesting" experience! I am sure it's more interesting to us than to you!

Anyway, I wonder if the original ads for ES showed them in open fields because they were in MN, which is mostly zone 4, I believe? That's why they could tolerate full sun? I think that MA is in general much warmer...

They don't really like full sun in MN either. They will take it if you water them constantly and even then they wilt in hot weather. Remember USDA zones are about winter minimum temps and have nothing to do with summer temps. Summers here can be quite warm.

Let me add some thoughts and maybe ideas for those who are struggling with ES hydrangeas. I bought my first one this summer. I planted in near full sun conditions. Meaning it gets sun from 9 to 2 some of the most intense sun of the day. Next thing to know is that I'm coastal Virginia so it gets plenty hot.

So here's what happened. The first week I watered daily and they flagged each day. After the first week we had much needed rain and clouds for 3 days. By the end of the second week when it did dry some no more flagging. I went to every other day. Now in the heat of the summer, late July I water twice a week. Now during this process about half the leaves burned on the edges. I felt I had nothing to loose about 2 weeks ago so I cut off 2/3 's of the leaves without removing the newest growth at the tips. Now I have a bunch of new growth and maybe getting ready for flower?

Since I'm new to hydrangeas I want to know do they send out a cluster of leaves, more than standard growth before they bloom?

Stephen, I hope you don't mind my honesty... I feel that part of the beauty of hydrangeas, esp. the macrophyllas, lies in the gorgeous foliage. If you chop off 2/3 of the foliage, even if it blooms, wouldn't that be rather unattractive?

IMHO, you really ought to be watering it daily since it is so new and you are in a rather warm zone with full sun. You probably should worry about root growth at this point before the blooms... if you wanted blooms this season, perhaps you should have bought one that was fully in bloom. Anyway, I hope you didn't mind my directness.

That's what I want is to tell it how you think it is. Yes, removing so many leaves wasn't attractive for about 2 weeks but I thought it would look better than leaves with crisp burnt edges. I'm pretty sure that was from transplant shock. I won't do that again because it won't be needed.

Daily waterings? I know ES. and other hydrangeas are prone to several disease such as antracnose. Wouldn't watering daily increase the disease pressure especially due to the high humidity we experience here in the summer? I like to water twice a week as long as it looks healthy and I water deeply for about 20 minutes. If I need to water more do I water only shallow for about 5 minutes a day then? Maybe I'll just let a few flowers open to see the color so I can work on the soil to have the right color I want next season. I'll then prevent it from blooming as mentioned for the rest of the season. Thanks for your input and I will use most of your recomendations with some modification due to daily monitoring on it's health.

Also is it a problem to cut them back to 6 inches to encourage a more bushy plant. If so when is the best time to do that with ES.?

Stephen,

I am sure the experts here will give you better advice than I can, but from my experience, in the first year, you really should be watering it often, even in zone 5/6 where I am. Now, in order to avoid the diseases that you mentioned, you should be watering it deeply and not on the leaves. You can do so by having a drip irrigation system - it can be easily set up by using those drip hoses, or even just with a gallon milk container with a couple of holes at the bottom, and then just let the entire gallon of water drip through the holes into the root system.

The other thing is, what was your soil like? Did you have mostly clay or sandy soil? Did you amend it? Does it drain well?

I also am a bit concerned about your full sun location in zone 8.

I really would not worry too much about the top part now, the main thing now is to establish a healthy root system so that you will have years of enjoyment to come.

Thanks again. Beleive me I'm watching carefully how it handles the sun. On the golf course where I work we have some that get similar sun exposure. Maybe the humidity of living just 3 miles from the ocean is the difference. Also it is hazy much of the summer.

My soil is like a clay/loam. Yes, I had to amend it because the previous owner had some hodge podge of plants in this bed with plastic and mulch over the soil. Needless to say I had to add quite a bit of organic matter and work it in to six inches. That is why the owner before me plants looked so bad. With the black plastic and mulch, no air or nutrients could get to the plants.