Hello, farmer_research. Summer starts for us in the May so you have to make sure that the shrubs have 2-4" of mulch by now, and get even more water per watering than what they got in Spring. I increased the water from 1 to 1.5 gallons in late May. Since daily 100s are just around the corner, I am also adding one watering by hand on Sundays to my usual automatic drip irrigation.

Browning of leaves from the edges inwards typically suggests a need for more water.

Your blooms should have started to fade about 2 weeks ago approx so you could also deadhead them so the plant does not waste energy moving water to bloomage that is soon to be brownish anyway. I leave them on for winter interest but you can deadhead them now or soon. If your shrub reblooms it will produce new blooms when temps moderate in the Fall down to 90s.

If the plant is getting afternoon sun, consider transplanting it so it gets shade starting around 11am during the summer time. But transplant it in the Fall when it has gone dormant. Now is the time to keep and eye for wilting issues and the need for more water, not for transplanting. Until we get to the Fall, provide shade with a chair or unbrella or something. And use the finger method to check if it needs water.

Luis

Luis- Thank you. This is just my second year of working with hydrangea's. They are planted in a sizable flower bed. We have two of them. I have the mulch & by mid-day the shade starts covering them. So watering is more than likely the problem.

This morning I saw that the remaining blooms were browning. So I need to remove them. It is encouraging to hear they will bloom again in the fall.

How often are you using 1 to 1.5 gallons of water?

-Ed

You can either deadhead the blooms or not. On small shrubs or on recently planted ones that are about to get daily 100s degree temps thru September, I would deadhead... until the plants are older.

My drip runs twice a week but when we start daily 100s, I replace one of the two drip waterings with hand watering. There may be times when I also water them off schedule, such as before a windy and hot day (example: weather forecasters issue wind advisories).