Springwood, do you do a lot of soil amending? I see blues and pinks next to each other and I thought they required different soil types for the different colors.

I am just amazed by your gardens Springwood.Do you winter protect all of the hydrangeas? Here in Louisville,KY. we have had such bad winters and I have no blooms! I did not winter protect. I wish I could stroll thru your garden...it is so beautiful. Lesley

Thanks all! And I appreciate the encouragement, Sally. A tour would only last about 10 minutes, unless there were some discussions or side entertainment! Funny how 100 hydrangea really don't take up a tremendous amount of space (the lot's only 60x120'). Maybe I'll get with some local gardening groups and see what they're doing (most progressive groups are about urban farming, and not ornamentals).

To answer your questions...

1) Protection... Many macs shown blooming were bought just this year. I just got lucky with a lot of large wish list plants becoming available at the same time!

Didn't winter protect much last time. Mostly just piled leaves on select plants only, from my medium-sized maple out front. The tree has had a fungal disease and will eventually die, so I'll have to fetch oak leaves from around the street corner! There are good many hydrangea that aren't going to bloom at all this year, because they were mostly killed back. If that weren't the case there'd by many more blooms than shown! This coming winter I'm going to use some trash bags with ventilation slashes as windbreaks / partial insulators. I also have a handful of less hardy things pots and containers, which take up about a 6x10' area in my double garage over the winter. They get watered deeply about 3 times when they're inside.

2) Haven't added any special soil amendments. Most of the soil is alkaline though. Some plants are genetically predisposed to going one main shade only. In some cases, the soil changes yearly due to natural factors. In other cases, the plants are young (none older than 6 years) and the nursery growing medium's pH is blending in with the native. I've not done any soil tests because at this juncture I don't care too much.

Springwood what is that long leaved plant between your ES and hostas? Is it gladiolus? Not only are your plants beautiful but your design and placement of different varieties is also gorgeous. I have no design sense. (Sigh..).

Those are yellow bearded irises. Their stiff foliage actually helps hold up the ES blooms, hehe. It's also very soggy there with drainage so the ES's are raised a little and mulched. The hosta and iris soak up a lot of the moisture there.

I've had a few glads stuck between daylilies a time or two, but they're much less hardy than their cousins and they seem to want to fall to the ground as soon as they bloom.

Got a few of Lucifer crocosmia and they perform a little better.

As for design, there really is none. A move or rearrangement strikes and I just go with it. But the whole cottage/shade garden hybrid concept seems to work on this particular property. :)

Springwood! I too love your garden....so many handrangeas. Oh how I wished to be living in 2 zones warmer....Canada is just way too cold for many of the varieties that you have...unless I winter protect them (which I don't have time for right now).

Keep posting everyone.....thanks for all the great pics!

Thanks again! I can honestly do without another harsh temp winter. Not counting on it because global warming makes the jet stream more volatile, creating the dreaded polar vortices.

...there was is still a 10x12' void, half shaded that I was leaving for any of this year's remaining big sales. And low and behold, a 40% off sale came up at my favorite nursery! Rounding it out with Lady In Red, Izu No Hana, Stargazer (Kompeito), and Purple Tiers (MyM). Might have to remix mops and lacecaps though. :P

Little Limelight. Sorry about the picture (sideways). Planted this last fall was not certain if it had gotten I established . But it did it also has blooms. Surprise, surprised.

I bought 3 Little Quick fire at a 30% off sale last week. Scratched off the list.

Andrea, your Little Limelight is very pretty. I have 2 of them, & they seem indestructible! Congrats, Stepskie, on your recent Little Quickfire finds! My Vanilla Strawberry survived our hail & wind storm a couple of weeks ago, although it did lose some of its blooms.

Bobo blooms

I was standing next to my QF tree today and noticed a very intense scent (lovely) coming from the blooms. I have never noticed this scent before. I then tried wafting my Bobo but no scent was detected.

Above is a close up of the blooms on QF....notice anything different about the fertile flowers? I don't remember seeing this before. Has anyone else smell/seen this on their QF blooms or is it just me?

You mean them getting puffy like that? I think mine do, but either the rain or bugs get to it pretty quickly.

Ok...puffy is normal. What about the scent?

Hydrangeas · More Info

Phantom

Hydrangeas · More Info

Endless Summer

Hydrangeas · More Info

Annabelle

I planted a couple Hydrangeas about three years ago. Each year they have gotten bigger and fuller but every year they have put out blooms by now. THis year, the plants have exploded in growth but still havent started to bloom. If it does bloom, I expect a huge show as well but I can't even see any buds for blooms yet.

Are these just plants that are interested in bulking up right now and will bloom when they are ready or is there something else going on. The plants look otherwise extremely healthy and not in any kind of stress. The seem to wilt during mid day sun on hot days but they have done that every summer in the past as well.

This is the latest picture I have. It is almost a week old and even now I can tell a big difference between then and today in size. The hydrangeas are on the left. The plant to the right in the center of the picture is a Hardy Hybiscus. The pink in the back ground is a rose.

Esox, what cultivar did you plant? Some cultivars, or types, of hydrangea bloom late, others bloom on old wood, some on new wood, and some on both. Pruning can affect bloom, so can a rough winter. Give us some details and maybe we can figure out your lack of bloom thus far.

Starlight, I have 7 Bobos and none of them have a scent. Lucky you!

Esox: If you're in zone 4, your winters are probably too hard on your hydrangea macrophylla. At minimum, you'll to throw a pile of leaves over the plant in November, and if you really want to get hardcore a big piece of cardboard over that followed by a plastic trash bag cut out flat with rocks or bricks on it to keep it from blowing away. Remove after last chance of frost in your area.

About scented hydrangea.... If you smell CLOSELY, most hydrangea which have fertile florets have some kind of scent. Ones with mostly sterile florets are much less likely to.

As a general rule, the more (or larger) fertile florets the flower head has, the more likely you are to notice the scent. This explains why reputed cultivars like Ayesha have more noticeable scents, because in that instance its cupped florets are actually large fertile ones.

Steppskie: I dont remember the cultivar. Here is a photo of it last year with blooms. This photo was two weeks later in the season last year. You can see the size difference in the bush.

It blooms on new wood. The shoots come directly out of the ground each spring.

Here is a photo two weeks earlier last year than we are this year and you can clearly see several blooms just starting.

springwood: Yah, it gets cold in the winter here, but it doesn't seem the winters have hurt my hydrangeas at all. They come up just fine in the spring and this year they are coming back with a vengence. We have had a good spring so that could be part of it, but so far on the Hydrangeas, it is all foliage and no blooms. Every other year, I had blooms starting in June.

I will mulch the plant this winter. I am beginning to think I will either get no blooms or a ton of blooms.

Try high phosphorus fertilizer. When you're looking at the numbers X-Y-Z you want Y to be the highest and X to not be higher than 10.

Springwood:

Any recommendations for something I could find at a Walmart or Home Depot?

BTW: I understand the NPK thing.

How about this stuff. 8-12-4

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Expert-Gardener-Rose-Food-4-lbs/37849824

From the look of things, I think winter is the reason for your lack of bloom. Am I right in saying that your plant dies to the crown of its roots every winter? If so, you may want to try the aforementioned style of winterizing as, at the very least, a test to see if you may have more success with blooms after proving winter shelter.

You do have a healthy plant otherwise, so trying to help with winter temps will only improve your hydrangea.

OK, I will do that as much as I can. The Hydrangeas are around a well pump head.

And yes, it does die to the ground and sprouts new shoots from the crown each spring.

Here's my Little Lime:

My 'Pee Wee' oakleaf tried to put out 2-3 blooms but only a few of the seed heads actually open to produce flowers. They eventually turned ugly and black so I removed them. It also has terrible leaf spot with the rain this year and is in a bad spot for air circulation. Think I'm going to move it to sunnier, drier spot in the fall (or possibly container even).

Esox: I don't see why that fertilizer combo you picked out wouldn't work. The general recommendation is slow-release, but if you use "single treatment" types, I would just follow the instructions on the package and observe the situation in between treatments. (Keep in mind the golden rule is not to fertilize hydrangeas after about mid-July - a.k.a. NOW)

I couldnt find that exact stuff, but I did find a similar Miracle Grow product with similar NPK ratings. I applied it a couple days ago. So, we shall see. I might give it one more dose in a week or so.

Thanks.

Bruce

Well, I got two blooms this year. It looks like one on each of two distinct plants....Just seems like I should get quite a few more per plant than I am getting. They mature and otherwise very healthy looking.

Here are the two plants which are basically growing as one single plant. The arrow is pointing to one of the blooms. THe foliage is outgrowing the blooms already.

Wow, they are planted quite close to each other. I wonder if you are getting root competition from each plant for resources. Is that red rock mulch around the shrubs?

Bark mulch is on the ground. I suppose they could be competing. Just seems like they should do better anyway.

Indeed. Do you apply any fertilizer? One application per year should be enough provided the soil has no mineral deficiencies.

I dont know if it was this thread or another one, but I was advised not to use any ferts this year. I did last year and got NO blooms. These plants have never bloomed a whole lot, but the first year or two were probably the best. If they had continued to increase their blooms along with the foiliage from one year to the next, they would be doing fine. I thought maybe last year was due to a late frost but we had one again this year which damaged the plant pretty good. I was really not expecting much if any blooms. Maybe, I just need to wait for a normal spring. There is a big difference between Wisconsin and Texas.

Here are the plants a couple days after the frost.

Waaaay up above was my front garden last year: baby Bobos and tiny shastas.

Here you go...one year later: daisies have been trimmed, but size is still evident.

I am experiencing a conflict here. I am completely and enthusiastically enjoying all your pictures. At the same time, I am completely disheartened and discouraged. I so want to have beautiful hydrangeas, but the only ones I gave had any success with are the paniculatas and an oakleaf, both of which I love. Still, my heart aches when I look at my pathetic macrophyllas.

Inspired anew, however, I will keep trying. Thanks to you all!

Paniculatas and Oakleafs are the two types that like full sun. For the macrophyllas, some can take it if have constant light moisture at roots for instance using compost and deeper beds. No one else has hydrangeas in our neighborhood. They say they just shrivel up! Mine don't even planting in July and August due to 2' deep × 4' diameter pits I did (to support even final size. Also best to plant them in october or november so roots can get growing before sun stress. On the macrophyllas best for most if shaded somehow so be on the north or east side of a tree, house, bamboo etc. Try Hydrangea Preziosa nice flowers, and impressive color in leaves if gets ample sun. Flowers keep changing colors. Blue or Pink. Pink ones turm brick red when age.

Hmmm, my oakleaf and paniculatas are in shady spots, but are spectacular. My macrophyllas are in shady spots, too, and are wretched. Sigh. I think I may try a couple of Pinky Winky in the fall if I can still find them and see what happens next summer. I will also check to see if our local nurseries have the Preziosa. Thanks, gfleatham!

Cyn427 suspecting still lack of moisture for the macrophyllas. Aren't Oakleaf and Paniculatas more resistant to drought? Do your macrophyllas wilt a little on hot days? If so thick bark mulch to hold in and deliver moisture msy make a world of difference. For me I had to compost ammend macrophylla bed soil in areas where the shade was from being near trees. Our top soil was thin in Woodinville, WA and large evergreens were robbing the moisture from the local soil. Only Hostas did well unless ammended these shady areas.

I thought that could be it. I was cheap this year and did not mulch. Will amend and mulch this fall and continue in the spring. Thanks!

This thread gives me such a warm feeling. I am very much longing for spring at this point. Such mild winter temps have given me the opportunity to visit my winter gardens...

but my fingernails are too clean.

I agree, but the problem is, my Hydrangeas are very late sprouters in the spring compared to a lot of other plants.

How early/late have they been leafing out compared to the last year? I have been having this early leaf out issue too for the last few years; luckily, I have not had late frosts or a change to cold weather after the leaf out.

I started seeing leaf out on my macs, serratas, paniculatas and oakleafs 2 weeks ago and ended taking out all the tropical shrubbery out when it got ridiculously warm and the azaleas and camellias bloomed. Sigh. I kept telling them it was too early to bloom but did any of those plants listen to me??? Noooo. LOL!!! Ha!.

-- Internet found photos --

This beautiful clumper makes a nice focal point and visual screen or backdrop.

Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda'

However, try as we may, they just wouldn't supply the Bear with the bamboo (Fargesia rufa and other related species have softer stems than timber bamboo and thus are Panda favorites.)

One of the nicest clumpers we have for stem color is Fargesia scabrida.

_____________________________

This is the bamboo that I secretly want

Dendrocalamus giganteus! The name alone sounds neat.

However, either we need to move to a warm humid climate like Thailand or Sri Lanka, or have global warming shift us to z10+. Either case would be disruptive to our family.

Gosh you'd likely need steel reinforced 6"+ thick concrete root barrier just to try to control it ... might still risk a "Jack and the Beanstalk" style event.

This is a small diameter stand at a botanical garden. Makes a nice visual screen. Raft or building material?

I have ONE H. paniculata 'Bobo' and a few other kinds of modern H. paniculata varieties. All of mine have a light honey like fragrance from the flowerheads in summer. We have a mild cool climate. I have younger plants that I'm trying to enlarge and so am generous with 10-10-10 slow release pelleted fertilzer Maybe plant youth, climate and/or nutrients help in fragrance production.