It appears as if the blooms are not getting enough/too much water. A spent bloom would look different (not as blue as yours).

Odd though, the top bloom looks great and the side ones look browned out. Hmm, looking at picture 4, someone with four legs may be nibbling at the leaf (or maybe at the side blooms too?).

If you live in cold climates, planting it outside may be a problem with cold winters but potting and storing/watering it in the garage during winter might work.

cut off the blossoms - down to the first bump on the stem. Then pull it out of the pot and see if the roots are dry or soaking wet. If dry, put into a pot of water and let the roots soak up water till they are dripping. Drain and put into the pot. Remove any paper or foil wrapping from the pot and let drain completely. If you have a garage or porch that is protected, put the pot outside. Homes are way too dry and hot for hydrangeas. The plant may lose leaves and look horrible, but it should revive just fine when planted in the garden. If freezing weather is not expected in your local area, leave outside in the garden - cold is ok, but the plant needs to harden off for freezing temps. Note: if the roots smell bad (can be root rot) when you take the plant out of the pot, then wash off the roots very well and remove the sour soil. Replant is fresh soil and plant should be fine in a week or so. Root rot is soil born and not a death sentence to your plants. Wash roots, drain and replant in fresh soil and do not drown your new plant.

Hello,

Thank you all for your answers. I'm leaning toward option that these hydrangeas are intended as only temporary indoor accessories. I gues that growners forced them into bloom with some strong chemicals (?) and now when it isn't getting daily dose... hmm..you see.. :( But I think this plant has some disease as well because brown flowers is not casual dried/over bloomed flowers. It is more like a rust. And it is also affecting buds. :( As much a my cat loves flowers :) I cant blame her about leafs: it begins with some dry spots on them and it expands all over the leaf. And then leaf fall off...

The first thing suffers from lack of water are the flower buds and the flowers. They brown out. If conditions do not improve, the leaves begin to show symptoms. They wilt and then they brown out. Leaves that are not getting enough water for a long enough time will start browning at the edges and then, the browning will continue inwards until the whole leaf browns out and, eventually, falls down.

Thats the thing: it definitely could't be lack of water. Flowers, buds and leafs are not wilting.

Well, they all do not wilt together or all wilt at the beginning of the problem. Flower and buds just brown out and react first by browning. Like when there is not enough water in each watering, when there is no water at all (say, you go on vacation and no one waters the plant) or when there is inconsistent watering (periods of dry soil, wet soil, dry soil, etc).

If the drought continues or gets worse, the leaves begin to wilt as the blooms continue to brown out. If there is no improvement or it gets bad enough, the leaves then start to brown out from the edges inwards.

Browning of flowers happens when there is lack of moisture/water, there is root rot or root damage from some pest; when the plant gets too much sun; when it is too windy and moisture dry; when the plant was recently transplanted and its root were disturbed too much; when the flowers are damaged somehow; when you put too much fertilizer or aluminum sulfate on a plant that is dry (called fertilizer burn); when they get grey mold and other opportunistic infections; when the flowers are spent (but they normally go first thru a series of color changes not seen in your pictures). Splashing of water on the blooms has also been blamed on the sun if the hydrangea is in too sunny conditions (so never water the blooms or the leaves). One should also check for spider mites (they affect new foliage and sometimes leave webbing... but you did not mention these issues so I assume there are no pests).

HU, pull the plant out of the pot and you will KNOW if it is over watered or under!!!!! You will not damage the plant. I will bet - a new one in the spring - that the cause for the problems will be obvious. Luis is a very experienced grower as are many of the people who replied to your post. Plants are not people!!!! obvious but not understood my many new gardeners. You can't diagnose the problem without inspecting the plant and that includes the roots. When you pull the plant out of the pot, take a photo, post it and then we can help. Until then, you can keep asking the same questions over and over and your plant will die.

HU-959348227

Ok, so I took it out of pot. Obviously, I need to replant it to a bigger pot (how bigger?). The roots are wet. But I was watering it only every other day, otherwise it started to wilt...

Looks like it is root bound (roots are circling the pot). Usually happens when the plant has been sitting on the same pot for "too long" of a time. The roots do not get enough food as there are too many of them. Watering every other day sounds like too often but it may have been caused by all those roots all of them needing water, specially the roots circling on the pot's center or sides, which are bound to dry out faster...

When a plant is root bound,the water runs down the sides of the container and does not reach the middle. Take your plant and put it in a large pot of water. If it bubbles, then the water is replacing the air in the rootball. When the bubbling stops take out of water and let drain. Now for the hard part! Cut the roots that are circling the pot and the pull the roots out of the tangled up. You will not kill the plant. Untangle just like you would to untangle a little girl's long hair. Next, trim off the really long roots so the fit into a new pot. The next size is usually selected. Shake the old soil off the roots and place the plant in the new pot. Add soil to the bottom of the pot and holding the plant, add soil to almost fill it up. Use any bagged soil - organic not necessary - tap the sides gently to settle the soil and water and let all the excess water drain out the bottom of the pot. Next step, cut off ALL the old blossoms! I would cut the leaves in half but they will eventually fall off when the new growth pushes them out. Do NOT ADD FERTILIZER OR ANY CHEMICALS! Put the pot and trimmed plant out in the garden or porch and leave your plant alone for a few days. It will recover and you have learned skills that can be applied to almost all house and garden plants.

Sorry for all the typos, tablet has very little space to type and it is new to me. lol

eimiss - how is the hydrangea doing? Did you trim roots and replant? Send some photos of the tops of the branches and where if it is outside or in. We are all cheering for you and your plant.

Well. There wasn't realy long roots but more like maze with small ones. Impossible to untangle carefully, so I just divided them breaking apart... Hope I didn't kill the plant. ◕_◕ Now I don't have to water it so often (last time I watered it was 3 days ago). Overall I think it looks better :)

emiss, you did a GREAT JOB!! It looks 100% better! Now you have completed, Rescuing Hydrangeas 101! Hydrangeas and most plants are survivors and we just have to help them out - usually because of humans making the problems. I hope there is a spot out doors for your plant and it will be much happier to live outdoors. Very soon you will see bumps on the stems where the leaf attaches. These will be the new stems and then leaves and eventually branches with more blossoms. Will take a few months but happen. If possible, change you little saucer under the plant for a bigger one. A deeper and wider saucer will give you the ability to water more at one time, let the water drain out of the pot and then empty the saucer! Hydrangeas don't need wet soil - in fact not many plants so. They want to be watered, drained and then not watered until the top inch or so of the soil is dry. Luis has great directions and calls it the finger test. Look under his name and he explains it with details. I find that disposable or think pie pans work best for plant saucers. I also put a couple of broken chop sticks under the pot to keep it from sitting in water for even a short time. Pat yourself on the back! You did a great job. Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Hello! This is how my little one looks now. Even bloomed again :) Just flower stalks are realy short...

I took it inside because nights are getting cold here (Latvia). Later it will be taken to hibernate in the basement.

Keep it away from air/heat vents so the soil does not easily dry out.