Those have been the issues I have had before. So I try to somehow winter protect and not to forget to water. Of course, in your zone, you can only water if the soil has not frozen. The roots usually grow back new stems though.

I'm sure it will leaf out but I might not have any blooms :-( and it's disappointing when I did the extra work to "pack it up and store it in the shed"..I hope some of the others bloom..you know what's funny?..my outside macs have leaves opening on the stems..they had a few buds that were fleshy so I covered them with a styrofoam cup..we'll see..

It is a rebloomer so juuuust maybe, I hope, it will have the necessary conditions to show some blooms on the new growth by the time Fall arrives. My Pistachio has a lot of new growth this year but only about 5 stems from last year leafed out. The others look like they got zapped... or maybe they are just late leafing out but... the majority of the leaf out here happened in early to mid March this year. It will be interesting to see how Pistachio looks like come blooming time. I have a few other macs and mountain hydrangeas in broccoli stage. The oakleafs leafed out ok but no open blooms yet; that is backwards from last year.

Think about the way you packed and see if you have some ideas regarding what could have gone wrong. Maybe it was insufficient leaves or mulch or whatever you prepared it with. Or maybe settling happened and exposed something. Or... Or... Or...

So your outside macs are doing better? Go figure. Ha. Maybe a watering issue then. Of course, you may want to wait a while before declaring the stems dead. Also, I sometimes have leaves that come out at the ends of the stems and they or the stem have suffered winter damage so, after opening a little, they then die... As if they got zapped by a late frost...

a1an..I agree..nothing compares to rain and sunlight..I had success last year and I thought I had a strategy that worked..our temp last night was below freezing..will be for 2 more nights..40's today..I WILL put them out in a few days..60's and 70's..in a few weeks I can tell how much to prune off :-(

Not sure if you saw my comment. I bought a 10G bloomstruck. Potted in a 30G root pouch (fabric pot). My mix is just mainly bark / coarse perlite. In winter, the pot was rock hard ! I did overwinter it with leaves and all. I swore I thought I must have killed the damm thing.

Anyhow, while a good 50% of the terminal died off, it has a zillion new leaf buds or just buds in general. Very strange buds though - they look like red long grain rice (some are that small). Anyhow, it sorta shows that even in a ~fabric pot~ - that was ice rock hard....they are much hardier than one can think.

Granted, I suppose bringing them ~indoors~, if your goal is to treat them as potted plants, can't hurt either It can only help.

I do remember that post!..they ARE root hardy here but not bud hardy..I never had blooms when I grew them outside..I tried winter protection outside and had just 1 bloom..but when I tried a pot in the shed last year I had blooms!..but this year my buds died..still not sure why..you're lucky to still have buds..

What are you goals for your pot. The roots are like gangbusters ya know...have you pulled it out to see how much they hit the wall of your pots.

While not as insulating as a double walled plastic planter, and I don't consider this as I don't plan to treat them as potted plants, but fabric root pouches are amazing IME. The roots love the oxygen they get from fabric pots

I wanted a blooming hydrangea in a pot to display in the summer..use it year to year to save time and money..I haven't checked the roots yet..hasn't been in the pot that long..figured I'll cross that bridge when I come to it..

Paging NW. So you have a Bloomstruck, be curious. Does any of you spring buds look like what I describe - whether it be a flower or leaf bud.

Just short of the ends which look like the usual terminals buds, all of mine developed these very itty bitty rice size reddish long grain rice buds *size and shaped* . Never seen such a thing. Anyhow, it's all leafing out from said areas - just the color and shape were unique to me at least.

Repot back if you had a chance to check on your roots. The 2nd one - on the green/black pot , to me, from afar over the internet, to me, could use a bigger pot

I've seen small reddish buds too..some of mine are fleshy but some are more brown and probably dead..well I've been taking my pots out of the shed..took 2 out last week the other 5 today..one looks great..3 look so so and 3 are sad..I'm sure some stems and buds are dead but I'm waiting a bit to prune..

OMG. I have to ask. The plastic stool (actually bought the same one for my moms years back). Is that your movers dolly for the planters ;-)

Pics are much more clearer - pots look bigger than the original pics. What's your potting soil mix like. If I took a pic of my mix, it would look like it snowed recently....I love me some extra coarse vermiculite.

Hi Nichols,that area by the stone wall looks great... I wouldn’t be in such a rush tomove to the NW ... What you have and What you’ll pay ... Enjoy Retirement

a1an..I was out until almost 9!..I love that little garden seat..I've used it so much the seat was cracking so my husband made a support from scrap wood..seat pops off so he could put it in there..I use my husband to move pots lol..otherwise I might try the garden seat as a dolly..the soil is MiracleGro Organic Choice..last year I couldn't find it..called every place their website said to get it and nobody had it..called MiracleGro for help and they were so worthless..

hyed..thanks for the compliment..it is a very nice neighborhood and I would miss it..but I daydream about a warmer climate..if I ever move I'm prepared to have an uglier, smaller house haha..

Uglier Smaller House ...I Don’t Think So...How About Dad....

80 degress yesterday. Low 40's today.

Oh NW. I hope the plant pot mover gets a break every now and then ;-0

a1an..that's funny!!..I admit when I said "you need to put the hydrangeas in the garage..be careful the stems are fragile" he was a bit grouchy..but he did it..I brought him a baggie of homemade fudge from my mom's so I'm not a total bully..

Save his poor back.

NW, our high was 80 the other day. Back to mid 40's. FWIW, my potted Bloomstruck which sat outdoors all winter is leafing quite nicely. Between the sun and the torrential rains we've gotten, I feel like it's okay with the weather....

If you're past the frost temps, I think some UV regardless of the temperamental upswing in temps will do good. I'm sure the day laborer will appreciate it as well ;-)

You know what it is. I think it' the free nitrogen . I observed this when we got the last noreaster. When the snow melted, the allium bulbs I had - the leaves seem to grow about 2-3" larger whereas prior they just seemed a bit small..Again, after the rains, seems like leafing on canes, and the allium is now showing a stem coming up.

yes the time outside helped mine too..we had the same deal with the weather..almost 80 then down to 30..the "manual laborer" will have tonight off..they need to stay in the garage tonight..

NW. Don't feel too bad. You're in the same company. My new compacts I planted last year, since they were small, I was able to mulch to the top and then some. When I removed the overwintering, there was leaves and terminal buds, all nice and green. About 50% of those observed live buds looked pretty dry today. And the soils plenty moist. Eh, maybe Hyed is right. Skip the macs and go straight to the whites ;-)

a1an..macs are such divas (heard someone call them that)..but they're so pretty I can't stop myself from trying to grow them lol..it's like the buds come back in the spring but they're in critical condition and can die any second..

Your poor DH. I think that you need to either get a large wagon they can be moved with or a hand truck.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sandusky-3-cu-ft-18-in-W-Utility-Cart-CW3418/202756889?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CG%7CBase%7CD59%7CMulti%7CNA%7CPLA%7CAll_RLSA_Storage%7C71700000032264730%7C58700003837068633%7C92700030688770631&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy9bTotXD2gIVwbrACh34cQXEEAQYCCABEgI5E_D_BwE&dclid=CJqe6svVw9oCFYWlyAodqRoINw

2- wheeled hand truck

You must be a lot warmer than I am. We had about two weeks that it didn't get out of the single digits + or - in late December and January, and in any unheated building everything would have been toast.

NHBabs..we have a wagon, wheelbarrow and hand truck..we've used the wagon and it's great but the other day it was muddy and the shed's close to the back door of the garage so he didn't bother..if he broke a stem off using the wheelbarrow or handtruck I'd have to kill him lol..I think I'm a little warmer..the shed faces south (might help)..and I had each pot in a garbage bag filled with leaves for insulation..I think it's sweet that all of you feel sorry for my husband haha..I'm very thankful that he's patient and cooperative..

NW. Don't give up on the Bloomstruck yet.

10G potted into 30G Fabric Pot (porus container/airy porus potting mix).

Pot was rock hard in early spring. Stuck to the ground/frozen rock hard...

The pot sits in a location where it starts seeing daylight around 6:30 and right now it starts shading I would say around 4 - 4:30. I did see some heat leaf wilt when we got some record setting summer temps (even though it's spring), but it bounced right back.

Anyhow, I did not touch it and I actually thought the terminal buds were toast. Riddle me this but but I have like 30+ terminal flowers when the ends looked pretty dry, small and toasty to me ! Granted, in my readings, supposedly bloomstruck is different with the red stems, but also smaller blooms but more proliferic.

Same goes for my Citylines. I've got 4-6 flowerbuds I can physically see ! Then again, I did see physical healthy live buds when I removed the mulch late winter...

On my ~existing older macs~, they they really start flowering in like late July sometimes. I've never seen so each flowers/blooms ever ! I dunno if the young ones just have more vigor and stamina .

I returned 2 Pistachios and a Cupid while they were under warranty..now I have 4 pots and 7 in the ground..one pot (ES Original) has flowerheads..2 in the ground have some tiny flowerheads..can't tell yet about the other 5..unlikely that the other 3 in pots will bloom..I'm giving them more time before I prune them..I'm pretty sure they "died to the ground"..my plan is to work with the macs I already own but I won't buy any more..might try burlap next winter for my outside macs..isn't it strange that only 1 of 7 pots will bloom?..how could that one succeed while the others didn't?..they were treated the same..it's confusing..

Nichols. Curious. You local nursery offers a 1 year warranty ? I think the one I frequent will if THEY plant them, but that's never been on my radar...

the nurseries vary..some as you said-a year if they plant them..I know of one that's only 30 days!..these 3 came from Wal-Mart..last year someone on Gardenweb posted pics of their hydrangeas from Wal-Mart..so I went there..the tag (which I saved w/receipt) said guaranteed for 1 year..

I had to ask....NW. Pet Peeve on the sh1%^% I see here....was just curious what nursery offers a 1 year, if not DIY planted.

2 Years ago , I was at Lowes. I think it was right after Labor Day weekend. Lady brought in a cart full of dead shrubs. Here I was thinking she had her summer garden party and now she's bringing her garden back.

I was at Homers last weekend. Gentleman was clearly returning a shrub that was dead to the door, but of course he had the ~new plant~ tag on it....

I just can't get how people return shrubs, and or places like Costco where people return meat. Just strikes me in off ways. Hopefully no offense taken NW>

Anyhow, with that said, I would also consider maybe checking out Home Depot or Costco for inexpensive shrubs. The stock I've seen at WM is more like Grade C IMO. YMMV with this. The stock I've seen is pretty good at HD/Costco and the prices are better than the local nursery. Costco has limited selection but I was blown away at their pricing - quality was very good, and it was 1/3 of the nursery ! No hydras. More evergreens, azaleas, hibicus, some annuals. This statement is not universal as they obviously get stock from a nursery that is regional to you location.

If you go shopping, do the usual - Cherry pick the healthy ones. Look at the stems. Pull the plug out. See how it looks.

BTW, what potting medium are you using when you put the store bought pots in your pots.

I'm not offended..in my case I returned the shrubs that I purchased there less than a year ago that did not grow well..but I'm sure people have cheated businesses and returned something other than what they actually purchased..or were negligent and let it die and then took it back..I did neither..after 13 years here I don't need much..just a few annuals for some pots..

Well, I know you got plenty of pots around ;-)

I'd hate to give the pot mover more work . How about some new large tall pots with some trailing annuals. Heh, it's that time of the year to add some color to the house.

I'm so much happier now that winter is over!..the day that I returned the hydrangeas I spent most of the refund..2 small bronze leaf cannas, 3 6pks of wax begonias (grn leaves w/white blooms, bronze leaves w/white blooms, bronze leaves w/red&pink blooms, 6 pk of dark purple coleus, orange, red, and yellow tuberous begonias, a croton and a June hosta..I have a lot of work to do..