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jazzygardener

Climbing hydrangea

21 years ago

Does anyone have a climbing hydrangea that's doing well? I bought two last year and only one survived our winter. It only has one branch that has any leaves on it. I've moved it to a sunny location to try and get it to grown. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Comments (5)

  • 21 years ago

    This plant is very slow to establish and prefers part sun to shade. This plant will not do well in full sun. Moving the plant again has set it back again and it will now take even longer to establish itself and you should really move it back to a part shade location for it to perform its best (and another move will set it back yet again).
    Sorry,
    Mike

  • 21 years ago

    Jazzy, I have one, it's two years old, and Mike is right that it's slow to establish. It lags behind the 3-yr rule of thumb that applies to most plants (1st: they sleep, 2nd: they creep, 3rd: they leap).

    I think you would be disappointed with the flowering (once it starts) if you plant it in full shade. Check out what the href="http://www.midwestlandscapeplants.org/plantdetails.cfm?speciesid=605">Landscape Plants of the Upper Midwest website says.

    Mine is planted (contrary to their recommendation) in a western exposure. I have some plants in front of it to help screen some of the hot afternoon sun. I don't know if that situation is interfering with the plant's growth or if I'm seeing its normal, slower establishment phase.

    HTH

  • 21 years ago

    Hey Jazzygardener, it can be hard to wait for this one, but there's hope! My two-year old climbing hydrangea bloomed this spring (one bloom, but still!) planted in nearly full shade. It was only there temporarily after my move, but i've decided to leave well enough alone. It's climbing on the north side of my garage. My other, larger, one is putting on more growth but no blooms yet. It's getting part sun. The nice thing about them, in my opinion, is that they're probably the prettiest leaves out there. So enjoy that while you wait? I'm with Mike in suggesting a move to part shade.

  • 21 years ago

    I see I posted my link incorrectly...take II, below.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape Plants of the Upper Midwest

  • 21 years ago

    I bought a climbing hydrangea last spring and planted it on the north side of my home, as close to the east side as possible. The plant I bought was approx. 4 ft high and very full with many branches(or whatever you'd call them). It just sat there last year and didn't do much, but it stayed the same as when I planted it, so I thought that was an ok thing. I covered the base of it with @ 9 inches of mulch last winter and uncovered it after the frost danger was gone this spring. To my excitement, it started blooming about 2 weeks ago and it's totally exploded with flowers right now. I don't know if this contributed to it's success or not, but last fall I gave it liquid seaweed and liquid fish as directed on the bottles, and I did so last week too. I am just really happy that it didn't die last winter!!! I heard that if they make it through the first winter, then you are over the hump. It's on a trellis, and so far it hasn't started scaling my stucco walls to grow higher. That is my next goal!

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