Some people have complained on the forum about ES in Zone 5 and have had to winter protect it; I bring that up for you to consider. When winter protecting, wait 2-3 weeks after your avge date of last frost before removing the winter protection. Also, review how the shrubs are doing in the middle of winter. If winter protecting with leaves, add more if settling has occurred by mid winter.

ES is remontant. It will bloom, take a break (4-6 or more weeks) and bloom again if the weather cooperates. If the weather becomes hot, the shrub may put off blooming until the temperatures go down. Deadheading should trigger ES to bloom again; it just does not occur right a way though. Over here, most shrubs stop blooming when the temps are regularly above 100 so expect ES to take a break should things get hot in Ohio too.

I would do a soil test to see if your soil is too alkaline or if it is low in some minerals (check nitrogen and phosphorus). Acidify the soil further if necessary. Add phosphorus if defficient. Remember that you will need to apply soil acidifiers regularly per the product label.

Go easy on fertilizers. Once in June is probably fine provided your soil has no mineral defficiencies. Some sun is also nice; about 2-3 hours would work well and help produce quite a few blooms. Too much shade will result in fewer blooms.

Maintain the soil moist as best as you can. Not dry, not wet. Dry and wet cycles can result in browned out blooms and leaves. The root ball can also dry out and bad things happen if it dries out. Windy locations may dry out the soil quickly so consider a wind break or transplanting if the area is windy. Maintain mulch, 3-4", up to the drip line or a little further. We get some wind during the hot the summer months so I like to extend the mulch further around all shrubs. Overwatering can also be bad for the roots so use the finger method to help you determine when to water.

Luis

While overwatering can be a problem, I find that most beginner hydrangea growers fail to water enough and water regularly. So, yes, check near the rootball as Luis suggests, and if the soil is not moist, WATER! You'd be surprised how much better hydrangea perform with sufficient water.

Kate

GT182,

I am not an ES expert and have only been growning ES for 2 years. Based on my experience, location and sun exposure are the primary reasons for the robustness in growth and blooming. For my ES (all orginals), The more shade (particularly afternoon shade) they get, the more flowers and robust growth they have. Here are my locations:

Location 1: mostly shade with only ~ 1 hr morning sun. Two ES have been doing great and bloom started in mid june, and still going strong with average 6-8 huge flowers and several young blooms at any given time. These two were planted last fall (late August). no winter protection. no prune until late May to remove dead stems only. This year I only need to water them once a week during the hot/dry August.

Location 2: Shade in the morning, but ~ 2 hr afternoon sun. Two ES planted in early May this year. needed to water almost every 3 days. have a few flowers and new blooms, but not as robust as in Location 1. Growth is lower too.

Location 3: shade in the morning, ~ 3-4 hrs afternoon sun. Boy!. ES do not like this location. need to water every other day. Get only a few blooms early in the season, a few on going now. very slow growth. flowers fade quickly into the green/brown-red color typically seen in the fall.

So in my experience, definely location and sun exposure are very important. In your Zone 5, you need to avoid afternoon sun as much as you can,

Good luck with your ES,
Vivian