Wow, I do not have your patience! I do not grow it but I would have staked it and, thru the years, I would have started pruning off at the bottom the worst offender stems... in order to end with stems that do not flop. Or flop much for that matter. I know it is a flopper but not too many people post about it.

Ironic. Those very nice!!! and large blooms are -sigh- partially the cause of the problem.

It may be a Swan one year when the rain comes after the blooming stage instead of during...

"It may be a Swan one year when the rain comes after the blooming stage instead of during..."

Like that's ever going to happen :)

That's like hoping it doesn't storm when the peonies are blooming- it's basically futile. Mother Nature sure likes to keep us gardeners humble.

Yep, the perils of gardening... Guess farmers should just quit because of drought or flood?

In other worlds, sometimes you're the statute, other times you're the pigeon.

Looks like sagging from too much water/rain (especially looking at the leaves). Trim the long stems to ~36" in the offseason they will become thicker year after year, to support upper foliage/blooms. Consider "mounding" the bed a little and raising the root ball a few inches if too much water is a potential issue.

Here is close cousin Great Star. It's approaching 7' and a little sprawly, blooms bend over the stems after heavy rain. I'm going to trim to about 40" max (the fence is close to 48"). Should make for a fuller branch structure next time around.

Thanks for the info to both posters. I've looked at both these plants since the large floret size combined with the lacy flower panicles is something I find appealing, but floppy plants don't do a thing for me, so I think I'll give them both a miss and hope someone combines stiff branches with this type of panicle at some future point.

Ditto on NHBabs comments - thanks to the posters - I'm crossing off Swan off my list, too.

I have a large specimen of this hydrangea in my yard that I couldn‘t identify. I finally had to send pics to the Missouri Botanical Garden and the identified it as the Swan. I love it!!! It is planted at the top of a slope in partial sun/shade and does very well. Maybe being at the top of a slope helps with water issues? It does wilt occasionally, but not often. It is big and beautiful in my opinion.

Hi -

o send pictures

but it failed on my above comments

And it has a HEAVENLY scent. I. have a number of different types of hydrangeas In my yard and none of the other have much of a smell.

I picked up a tree form Quickfire and a regular Little Quickfire over the weekend, and was amazed by the scent in my car. I have never noticed a scent from the 4 types I now have.

Mine has long since been discarded- not enough bang for my real estate buck.