What kind of hydrangea are we talking about? It makes a BIG difference when dealing with a colder zone like yours. And can you post any photos? It is difficult to speculate on what might be the problem if we can't see it :-))

FWIW, a high nitrogen fertilizer is never recommended for a flowering shrub.........if one actually wants it to flower.

Yes, sorry I took a picture on my phone this morning and it took forever to upload to the computer. I have another picture too but it is still uploading to my e-mail, I wish there were an easier way!

Anyways, I think it is a mophead? Macrophylla? Endless Summer? Are these all the same? It has a pink flower, we put aluminum sulfate acid on them to change their color to blue. There is one small bloom coming on one of them you can see in the lower left. The fertilizer we bought was called Superbloom I think. Thanks again!

That is a bigleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla, and it could be Endless Summer and if so, a mophead....so a conditional yes to all three!!

It does appear to have some cercospora leaf spot going on but not what I would consider a serious infection. Avoid getting any water on the foliage of you can and try using a fungicide. It also looks a bit sun stressed.......how much sun does it get? Leaves are bit less green/more yellow than I would like to see also - that could be sun but could also be insufficient soil acidity. A soil acidifer or chelated iron may help.

As to the sparsity of flowers, that is a common issue with ES in colder climates. The old growth dies back each winter without protection and the new growth is often very late to develop or to produce blooms. Reliable flowering for this hydrangea really comes down to winter protection, otherwise it is very hit or miss, even with the new growth.

It gets direct morning sun until about noon, then it is in the shade. Do you think we should cut the damaged leaves? We have had a ton of rain here lately and are expected to get more this week, it will be hard to keep the foliage dry.

Do you think we should wait to cut back this year? I just hate the look of the dead sticks sticking out all fall/winter/spring! Do you have any suggestions on a type of hydrangea that would work better for my climate? I bought another hydrangea from Lowe's this spring I think ES, but am too embarrassed to even show a picture of that mess! Half of the blooms have shriveled up and died on that one. I am thinking I just need to move these hydrangeas and replace with a different type. :( Thank you so much for your help!

Oh whatever, I decided to share the picture anyways, this is my newest hydrangea. I had to take the picture blindly from my laptap but you can kind of see how the blooms are turning black. Some completely wilted to black ash, the foliage too. My petunias are starting to take over, I probably should have spaced them more apart but the hydrangeas were wilting before the petunias were even close to them. This is my second one that did this during the first year. It's in a different bed than the other hydrangeas but still getting the morning early afternoon sun.

I have two suggestions for you. If you are OK with a lacecap hydrangea, look for the mountain hydrangea, H. serrata Tuff Stuff. In my garden it dies down to the ground but is just starting to bloom now. It has done this for the last three seasons, including after a winter we got down to -23 F. The plant looks quite similar to the big leaf hydrangea that you have.

Alternatively, all the panicled hydrangeas would do well for you. They are hardy down to zone 3 and have large fluffy flower heads of a slightly different shape than the big leaf mopheads, a bit longer or more cone-shaped. They start out some shade of light green/cream/white and over the course of a long season tune to some shade of pink. Mine bloom for 3-4 months. There are many cultivars ranging in size from 4' to more than 15'. They are tolerant of half day to full sun in our zone, and are not too fussy about pH. They won't give you the classic blue hydrangea flowers, but they are reliable and easy and have a really long bloom time and I find them attractive.

For you current new one, try giving it some temporary shade. For both of your current plants, be sure that the soil isn't drying out or too wet by sticking your finger into the soil. . As far as the lack of blooms, you most likely had a cold snap after the buds had started waking up and were killed back. I don't cut back my macrophylla/big leaf hydrangeas until spring once I have seen if any old wood survived. For me it is often hit or miss as far as bloom; some years they bloom but other years they don't.

Do you do overhead watering? Do you get the leaves and blooms wet?

Where in zone 5 do you live?

Babs (as usual) has great advice! I don't cut mine back till spring - once new growth starts from the crown, and I'm sure any old canes are goners, that's when I prune them. I know dead sticks are no fun, but I think it helps to leave them. The only amendments/ fertilizer I do here is a cup of Holly Tone in the spring, and iron if they start to look chlorotic. I would looooove to have blue flowers, but plants in the ground require too much fussing, and I have all kinds of other stuff planted around them. Good luck!

Try a high-phosphorus fertilizer (the middle number on the product). Superbloom *should be* high phosphorus. The first number is Nitrogen (X-X-X). The only detractor of phosphorus is that it can prevent absorption of aluminum, which is the primary ingredient in BLUING the blooms.

Common Bigleaf "issues":

- the blooms don't last all summer. The more direct sun there is, the more brown they'll get. More particularly, ones from nurseries (current year) often turn black due to poor care / fungus at the grower. Once they even slightly begin to turn black cut them right off, otherwise it will spread.

- leaves often exhibit insect damage and/or minor infections. But unless all the leaves are drooping or shriveling up or falling off, the plant is in no immediate danger.

- the green one in the pic (top) has iron chlorosis in some of the leaves. And it is not ES, but some pink or ruddy leaning bloomer. Pistachio commonly looks like that, and is especially susceptible to iron chlorosis. IC is caused by high soil pH.

These common issues often reset themselves somewhat from year to year, unless there are prevalent chemical issues in the soil, deficiencies, high pH, etc.

One "trick" I might try would be adding one dose of 10-10-10 pellets (Spring, after last freeze), 1-2 doses of Superbloom (watering can mix only), then used coffee grounds (yours, Starbucks giveaways, etc) up until Fall.

"And it is not ES, but some pink or ruddy leaning bloomer. "

How can you possibly say that with any certainty? I am often amazed at the audacity of the firm identification of various plants on various forums when there is virtually nothing distinctive about them to confirm an ID.

I have worked with plants most of my adult life and that includes in both a retail and wholesale nursery setting as well my current position as a consulting horticulturist, Of all the many hundreds of hydrangea cultivars out there - many of them very similar in appearance - one would be hardpressed to ID one accurately in full flower, let alone only showing a bud. ES WILL bloom pink if in the suitable soil condition. And Pistachio is no more inclined to chlorosis than any other bigleaf.

If the OP believes it to be an ES, then I am perfectly willing to accept that identification as a given until something flagrantly obvious indicates it is not!

Wow, so much useful information! I am in zone5b. For the newest (black turning) hydrangea I water it mostly from a soaker hose under the mulch. The other two I do overhead watering, I try and get the hose down around the root and drip line as much as possible though. But yes the foliage gets wet. I will try to avoid that as much as possible.

I cut off the black leaves and blooms, what is the best way to shade it? The petunias are growing overtop of it, is this good shade or cause for more problems?

I will add iron to the other flowers. Do you think a soil test would be a good idea? Thanks again to everyone for all the great advice and information!

Soil tests never hurt.

I forgot to add annuals like petunias don't seem to have any effect on perennial shrubs that I've personally noticed. If anything, they're great for adding color and preventing weeds in between your perennials.

I don't mean to be argumentative, but the plant in question can't be ES because ES leaves have zero gloss whatsoever and the leaf internodes are way too short on the plant in the photo. ES internodes are some of the longest, up to 6"+ in places. Also ES produces some of the biggest leaves of any bigleaf hydrangea (all of my ES have at least one leaf that is a foot long!). If there were any leaves on an ES that are 2-4" long, they're in baby/shoot stage only. The plant in the photo is covered strictly with 2-4" leaves.

bsds71, please repost a closeup of the following bloom after it fills out so we can help ID it for you:

ES with pink bloom.

nhbabs- So jealous!

Springwood gardens- Yes once this bloom actually blooms I will post a picture! Honestly, I bought them 7 years ago and have no clue what it was, I was 20 something, first home and thought it was pretty lol. The other 3 hydrangeas since, I am fairly certain were/are the Endless Summer at least one of them. But the older 2 that have lasted, I have no idea what type. Looking forward to the bloom, it's been awhile! Do you think the picture of the black/brown dying hydrangea is ES? I bought from Lowe's and was pretty sure that was ES, I really need to start writing all my plants down!

Thanks again for all the help, I have learned so much!! I am going to start driving you all nuts posting with all my gardening woes!

bsds71, the photo was its first year while the roots were still in the potting soil. It doesn't always bloom, but when it does, it blooms blue now since my soil is acid. It gets about 4 hours of morning sun, and then bright shade from a building for the afternoon.

"what is the best way to shade it?"

If it is small set a chair over it and move the chair as the sun moves.

Far easier is to stick two or three bamboo stakes around it and use clothes pins and a sheet to fashion some shade. I do this quite frequently using bulk rolled burlap because its weave is so loose that light peeks through, but lacking burlap an old sheet/tablecloth would work great. Don't use anything plastic.

The blackened one looks like Merritt's Surpreme or something very similar. Giveaway on that one is very very round darkish matte leaves. Internodes are somewhat short as well. It will lean pink or mauve even in acidic soil. Also the stems on Merritt's exhibit very few of the traditional brown spots that are common to macs. It can do okay in zone 6 but can be finicky.

Meanwhile, if the other mystery plant was purchased 7 years ago the ID options will be somewhat limited. The way the leaves are all pointed up at 45 degree angles makes me think of F&E Fantasia, but it was just hitting the market at that time. The bloom will quickly rule that one in or out!