I do not grow it in Z5 but leaves originating from the base indicates that some (or all?) of last year's stems dried out in winter and can be cut off if they do not leaf out by mid-month. or so. Winter protction is needed in Z5 IF you are trying to keep the early Spring flower buds alive. The flower buds develop near the ends of the stems. The shrub will now develop summer flower buds instead.... in of the new growth.

Some sun 2-3 hrs helps with blooming behavior but even in bright shade it can do well. I give them afternoon shade by 12pm or thereabouts is great as that or dappled sun is what they like but that is not much of a problem in the north.

As long as it is getting a good supply of water, 3-4" of mulch, a few hours of morning sun and some fertilizer in Spring, it should do well. It takes 1-3 years to get established. Oh and maybe add acidifying soil amendments if your soil is alkaline.

I tried bright shade alone with Bloomstruck and it was far iffier and slower than its ES counterparts. As Luis said, I'd go with some full sun, like 2-5 hours, time of day doesn't matter so much. Shade soil with companions or mulch. Its stems overwinter quite well; getting it to produce a lot of them is the trick!

I bought one Bloomstruck last year. I have it on my front lawn garden facing south...full sun all day. Last year it was okay...there was no drooping and I did not every have to supplement extra water during the heat wave of July/August....unlike the ES Original and TnS plants that were planted beside it....they needed to be supplemented with water all the time during the heat. Also, the reddish colour on the leaves were much more apparent than the TnS. In my opinion, Bloomstruck may be a better candidate for full sun areas. With regards to dapple shade? I'm not too sure about it. Does anyone want to chime in?

Lets see what the 2nd year will bring to the Bloomstruck. So far, I notice that it survived the winter much better than my ES TnS....Bloomstruck has more growth than my ES TnS...let's wait until June and see...

I have just one Bloomstruck and it's blooming..overwintered in my shed and now lives on the east side of my garage..dappled light but it's doing well..do yours have dark green foliage like mine?..I love Bloomstruck too..

Yes, some dark leaves - not entirely dark though - and red stems. Also, there was no Winter dieback on my Bloomstruck hydrangeas. I did see the original ES hydrangeas also on sale at HD but decided not to purchase them as I've read that there's problems with no blooms.

wise decision :-)

This is a magnificent mophead hydrangea: its in 2nd year and I have blooms on every single stem, even on new growth ones. Although the blooms on new growth stems are smaller in size. Very wise decision indeed!

I actually have two of the original ES hydrangeas that I must have planted around 5 years ago or so. One has 2 blooms and the other one has zero blooms. I might replace them with Bloomstruck. I'm just so impressed with this hydrangea! The ES bloom is larger and very pretty. Maybe it's just in the wrong spot?

My bloomstruck hydrangea in full sun was burnt so badly. I'm in zone 5B . I had to move it to partial shade under a tree

Now it's much happier

I bought 2 Endless Summer original last year and planted them under a huge tree with only dappled shade. Last year i did have one or two blooms only.

I am in zone 5 and i thought the plant is a dud after doing some research.

But WOW ! This year both plants are full of buds and blooms on all new shoots !!!

I had to prune all old wood since it did not survive the winter here.

we had more rains this spring and i did fertilize with miracle grow slow release with high middle and added some cow manure as mulch. It really worked !!

I bought Niko blue and bloom struck this year. I plan to buy Twist n Shout if i find it

just beautiful..can you tell me where it's planted?..close to the house?..sunny?..faces NSEW?..winter protection?..love to know what you did to get those blooms..pics are your ES Original right?..

Here the answers

1. Planted under tree (dappled sunlight all day), maybe one hour of direct sun light late evening

2. Mulched well to keep moisture , the area surrounding the plant was mulched using black anti-weed cloth and on top white gravel.

3. we had a lot of rains this spring and i think this helped

4. I added a cow manure , thrown half bag in the middle of the shrub

(all old wood died and didn't survive the winter, i noticed a lot of new shoots from the ground. I cut all old woods. all blooms from new shoots

5. I applied a generous amount of Miracle Grow slow release ultra bloom around the root zone and in the middle of the shrub (i thought i am going to kill it hhhh)

6. I added Aluminum 3 times last year and 2 times this year (once a month) , both to the soil and as soluble in water. I ended up having mix of blue and pink.

Thanks for the details..my ES Originals have NEVER bloomed on new shoots..I have Bloomstruck which is blooming..I love hydrangeas and read this forum a lot to learn what other people do..