Maybe because it is only 1 year old. Or too much nitrogen (fertilizer) if you added any. Or because of the pot. Or all. Ha! Enjoy it as it still looks nice and young to me. Pictures of older Flares:

http://plantsnouveau.com/plant/hydrangea-paniculata-lava-lamp-flare/

PS - I did not detect flopping on the pictures.... which is a good thing!

I started some hydrangeas from cuttings several years ago. The flower heads were much smaller and fewer for the first few years.

Maybe because it is only 1 year old.

The flower heads were much smaller and fewer for the first few years.

Yes definitely a reasonable explanation.

I was just wondering given someone else's experience with "permantently" potted hydrangeas if they noticed lesser blooms overall.

report back on your observation.. when the flowers are fully open .... im thinking it might look significantly better ...

ken

ps: im also wondering about the heat that brick wall holds.. deep into the night.. this time of year ... go out and feel it around 11pm after a hot day ... bet its still hot ... maybe that is doing something???? [i dont know how to convert 11pm to metric.. lol]

when the flowers are fully open

Now that was being "noobieish" ie not waiting for the flowers to fully open. I am impatient when posting pics to this group :(.

im also wondering about the heat that brick wall holds..

You know Ken, I was thinking that with this shrub in a pot and next to the brick wall that there would be an issue with it needing lots more watering but surprisingly this hasnt been the case ie the foliage has never shown signs of stress.

Is this being overwintered in a garage because you have it in a container? I see them come back all the time in the ground. I am going to try one this winter in a pot. Should I put it in the garage after planting? I was planning on leaving it outside. I am curious to hear the answer you all have.

Exactly Patti. I had an extra pot so it was an experiment ie would it survive over the winter in a container. (I kinda wonder now if it would survive the winter if the pot was left *outdoors*)

UPDATE: July 16/2020

It easily overwintered in this same pot. (I say easily as I left the pot and plant outdoors this time all winter).

It has been vigorous and disease free all season. I do not fertilize it and I can see that again it will have very few flowers...I count 3 or 4 blooms....Its weird.

Why haven’t you put it in the ground? Do you intend to eventually?

Because I have no room.

I have had success overwintering perennials and so it was a reasonable option to do the same for this advertised as small hydrangea. Except for flowers it looks very healthy.

Hmmm... I can identify with that a bit. Our garden is at the stage now that adding plants largely means something else needs to be removed to make room for a new plant - or that something died and needs replacing! But growing perennials/shrubs/trees longterm in pots seems like too much work to me :-)

But growing perennials/shrubs/trees longterm in pots seems like too much work to me

Yup. my potted JMaples are a pain but I like them lots. But this hydrangea is easie peasie as it can overwinter in a pot outside and the pot + soil + plant isnt that heavy and so no big deal to move it wherever.

I like the compact form of your hydrangea

Sean S, tat's why I chose it (Flare) for a container as it is listed as being 2 to 3 feet in dimension.

http://www.homenursery.com/blog/is-the-hydrangea-lavalamp-series-the-next-best-panicle-hydrangea

My update. I still have the bobo hydrangea in a pot now for three years. I have not tried to bring it in the garage because I couldn’t carry it myself. It hasn’t shown any disease. My only trouble is that it has never flowered yet. It has grown great over the past few years and looks very healthy. I am not sure why it doesn’t put out any flowers. My neighbor has the same hydrangea in the ground and she seems to think it will take a few years to flower.
Rouge21 sorry to but in this thread but as long as the wonderful people are helping you maybe they can give me some advise also. Thanks in advance.

In a pot, check to make sure that it is getting enough sun when it begins to develop flower buds (mid to late Spring) throughout the end of the season... say, usually, more than 6 hours of direct sun; the potting medium has enough minerals (fertilize with some regularity); water to maintain the soil as evenly moist as you can (no dry periods that might zap the flower buds); do not use high nitrogen fertilizers as these may result in nice foliage but no blooms; soil acidity; do not prune unless it is to remove dead stems or to deadhead spent flowers in winter ish; make sure that the plant is not root bound (roots growing in a circle within the pot).

Thanks Luis. This plant is not root bound for sure and I water by feel only Unless we get rain. I do try not to wet the leaves directly. I do have it in full sun all day. I did put some granular fertilizer in the pot in the spring. I have never trimmed it once because it was a baby when I planted it. I feel like I am doing right by this plant but it did not flower for me. I will see what happens next year as I feel it will not flower for me this year. The neighbors all around me with hydrangeas all are in full bloom. Time will tell.

Over-winter it indoors once it goes dormant. Do not let it get completely dry indoors. And take it outside around 1-2 weeks after your average date of last frost (to protect it from late frosts or big temp drops after the plant breaks dormancy). These will not kill it but they may zap foliage and make it look awful until you get new leaves in 2-4 weeks.

Hmmm... I can identify with that a bit.

Your property is probably 3 times the size of what we have to work with....Id love to have more freedom to plant more. Grass is always greener on the...

The first post shows this same hydrangea almost exactly one year ago.

And as you can see in this current picture there are even fewer blooms. It has appeared healthy for the whole season. It has never been pruned.

Your plant has a few flowers, I am sorry that there aren’t many more. My plant also still looks the same as it did when everyone else’s started their show. Just leaves only. I had some tiny yellow leaves in the middle of the plant and I removed them and cleaned up what fell into the planter this past week. I have noticed a few brown spots on a few of the leaves too. I don’t know what that is. Is it the container that cause them to struggle? I never pruned my plant and it is 2 yrs old now. It is full like yours. I added a bit of a CRF at the start of spring and worked it into the topsoil. What can we do for next year?

it is a bit sparse on flowers

Nearly every shoot tip has a flower head coming on so there's not much more it can do. Otherwise general impression of specimen will improve as it grows larger - move it on to a bigger tub so it can keep developing.

My bobo in a pot, I moved it from the ground to a pot in the spring and it’s done quite well.

Small pot and such huge flowers!

(What made you move it from the ground to a container?)

I had 7 of them planted to make a hedge last year but decided to make it zigzagged this year to make it less formal so had two extra. I didn’t know what to do with them so I put them in two pots which I had and hoped for the best. Surprisingly they are doing well, they are in full sun. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about the ones I have in the ground which were moved (I posted the problem on another thread)

UPDATE (June 2021):

Flare today:

It has only lived its life in this container. It is very vigorous in terms of growth. Right now it is 33" across and 30" tall and still growing. It is a bit too early, but not by much to see if there are more blooms this year than was the case last year. If it again disappoints than it will need to find a new "home" :).