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shodorov

did my hydrangeas die?

20 years ago

i planted 4 hydrangeas during the spring and they seems to be doing ok over the summer. its now cold in NY and we had our first frost. the leaves are now wilted and brown and the stems are turning colors as well. is it deing or going into winter 'mode'?

is there anything i need to do to protect it over the winter if there is still life in it?

Comments (12)

  • 20 years ago

    If I may jump in here and ask a question. I live in Kansas City area and I bought a couple of Endless Summer and did great and like shodorov, mine dried and and looks dead. Whould endless summer come back with flower next year and do I need to cut it down close to the ground or just leave it alone? Thanks

  • 20 years ago

    Eyan, that's what they do! Leave them alone, don't cut anything, and wait for spring. Along about April, you should start seeing leaves down in the crown. Then you will know they're not dead, they just took a little nap.

  • 20 years ago

    Thanks Jen26!!!

  • 20 years ago

    mine are penny macs. they ar enow pocking their wilted brown dead leaves through about 8" of snow.... ugly sight.

  • 20 years ago

    I am new to these too. We went from 80 to 15 in a week, complete with ice.

    Mine are next to the house, but sure look dead.

    I assume they went dormant, but it's only been a few weeks and now we have days again near 80.

    Do I water at all in the winter....we are in a drought.

    thank you
    cynthia

  • 20 years ago

    I would probably water, Cynthia, but maybe you should start a new thread with that question. You might get answers from people with more knowledge than me.

  • 20 years ago

    eyan100:
    No your hydrangeas didn't die, but might have winter kill down to the ground. I believe upstate New York is really cold like here in Maine. Try next year to cover the plants for the winter. I think there is a lot of good information on wintering your plant in this forum. But no need to worry, in the spring you will see new leaves coming out of the ground. You might get lucky with no winter kill, so don't cut the plant to the ground until you know it had winter kill. Good luck. For plants I have Nikko Blue, endless summer, and Annebelles, and only the Annebelles are left uncovered in the winter.
    WACKO!!!!!!!

  • 19 years ago

    i planted my hydrangia three weeks ago, it was colourful and growing big, today the flowers look like they are dying and the leaves look droopy. How can i make it better? yesterday i put plant feeder on it, has it made it worse

  • 19 years ago

    Ben, are you watering it sufficiently? How do you water it? I hope you deep water it as opposed to just sprinkling over it.... You may want to avoid fertilizing it as it will stress your plants out even more...

  • 19 years ago

    i think it must be the plant feeder i sprinkled over it, it mixes in with the water. i have just been spraying the plant, perhaps i needs to water it deeper then. The question is, do you think it will come back?

  • 19 years ago

    Ben, you have nothing to lose but to try. I would deep water it frequently. My three ES would wilt every day when I first planted them - and they were not even small plants when they were put in the ground! They were 2-3 gallon plants then. Even at that size, they were wilting daily. I had to water them deeply every day. 3 years later, they are strong and beautiful and don't wilt anymore!

    There have been other threads on deep watering here. Some people suggested a very good method here - find a gallon container (milk etc.), make a couple of pin holes at the bottom, place the container with water next to the plant and let it soak through. That would provide deep watering for the roots.

    My neighbor just sprinkled my Forever & Ever hydrangeas for me a couple of weeks ago. They were planted last fall. Oh dear! They wilted like crazy. After some deep watering, they came back as if nothing happened.

    Try it and let us know how it goes! Good luck.