Hello Marilyn:
I'm on my second year on wintering hydrangeas in eastern Maine. I hope my first year wasn't just luck. I covered six Niki Blue with a tepee made out of plywood. This year I have twenty niki Blues to cover. I plan to make teepees out of felt from a paper mill. I'll make a frame out of 2x4's and staple the felt to the frame. I have eight Endless summers that I plan to lay on the ground and cover them with cardboard from boxes. After I lay the cardboard over the flowers. I'll lay some bricks on the cardboard to hold in place. I have ten Bluebirds that I'll not cover as I plan to change them to Annebelles next year. Hope this helps!!
Phil

I have just planted 2 Endless Summer hydrangeas that are flowering beautiful yet. I was not aware that they need to be covered. Do I cut them down? Or..do I just snip off the flowers when they are spent? I also have a larger one that is called a "Kaleidascope" in a different location that I planted a month ago. I'm not sure how to winterize these either....Same?? HELP is appreciated

I have brought my hydrangea into my garage as recommended and protected from frost so that when I transplant in the spring the buds on the old wood will bloom. My question is, do I continue to water the plant during the winter months in the garage, or just keep it protected with burlap and leaves? I'm not clear on whether the plant should be watered while it is wintering over.

You won't need to water and you don't want to water very much. The ones I overwinter outside go in damp and come out five months later just about as damp as they went in. It's a good practice to learn to judge whether a potted plant needs water by tilting the pot to sense how light it is.

There is an "overwintering" thread.

Endless Summer in the ground should be mulched over winter, especially for the first few years, to help keep the shallow root ball from dying. More than a foot of wood chips or lots of leaves or something would help.

I don't have Kaleidascope and it's not on any hardy list I've seen so I suspect you're like to not see many, if any, blooms on it unless you do something to overwinter it.

Good luck.
Hay.