Pretty sure it is just the blooms fading away - all normal. Heat probably has a lot to do with fading faster than it should...

Yeah, as the blooms fade and turn colors (say, shades of pinks, greens, blues, etc), you sometimes see some spots develop on the sepals. Nothing to be afraid of. Preziosa is well known for speckling the pink sepals with darker pink spots.

In VS and SS, this can occur as the whole -for example- (white) sepals begin their color change to pink/etc.

PS - Some people have noticed some speckling after frequent rains or after doing frequent waterings so there may be a connection being the sepals getting wet and the speckling. But there is not much one can do to reverse or prove the connection, other than not to do overhead watering.

The browns are usually sun scorch. Varies from year to year, but yes, dependent on lots of things, most having to do with water. I've found that misting during sunny conditions slows this down a little, bu that's more or less impossible to keep up with.

We have had a lot of rain and really hot humid weather so maybe that is part of the reason. :-(

springwood_gardens, I went to the Dallas Arboretum and saw their misters in action and wow, if I had the money, time and resources, I sure would not mind using those around the azaleas here! Just hook up the water source, set the unit to mist a certain amt, flip the switch and let 'er rip. I know it is waaay too complicated for me but hey, one can dream!!! Maybe Santa Claus will put one for me. Hee hee hee!!!

Alas, I would probably never use it on my hydrangeas for fear of spreading powdery mildew, which is all over this area's Crape Myrtles & Euonymous or for fear of spreading leaf spot that my drip irrigation is helping minimize.