A purple tint to the foliage can also be an indication of a seasonal reaction to colder temperatures. This is quite common with a number of cultivars of bigleaf hydrangeas, Hydrangea macrophylla. That would also explain why few if any flowers - they're very sensitive to cold damaging the latent flower buds.

Very few soils are deficient in phosphorous. I wouldn't add anything until you have a soil test done to see if that is in fact the cause. UMass provides a very thorough soil test with easy to read and understand results and with recommendations for proper amendments.

If it hasn't bloomed by now, it (probably) won't until next year.

Thank you both for replying.

The leaves have been purple for basically the entire growing season; nothing that was caused by dropping season ending temperatures.

I am not sure if that will aid with any added advise.

Thanks again.

It doesn't alter the fact that you should still get a soil test before arbitrarily adding any supplements or amendments to the soil.

Photos of the plant may help as well. Do you know what kind/cultivar of hydrangea it is ?

I know of these five ways to "get" purple-ish leaves:

* cool weather in the Fall triggers dormancy and leaf color changes like purple (most of the hydrangea Fall foliage tends to be a medium yellow; a few macrophyllas and oakleaf hydrangeas produce more colorful foliage now)

* after a late frost in the Spring (average date of last frost in Worcester is the last week of May for example): you can get either very dark greens -almost black- or reds, oranges or purples when the leaves get hit by a light frost.Some eventually brown out.

* due to a nutrient deficiency (phosphorus, like gardenfal48 said) - do a soil test

* it is normal on some hydrangea varieties like Plum Passion, a hydrangea aspera

* a severe leaf spot infestation (but normally it does not occur on all of the leaves)

Based on your comments, if you bought an aspera Plum Passion then it is normal but otherwise, I would suspect a late light frost in late May or early June if the problem has been with you all throughout the growing season.

If you have a macrophylla (mophead/lacecap blooms), you may need to winter protect it to protect from late frosts or to get bloomage. Or, if you pruned late in the season in 2019, you need to prune earlier... soon after the plant blooms (the flower buds are invisible at the ends of the stems by late Summer or early Fall). Or you need to reduce the amount of fertilizer on established hydrangeas (decomposing mulch is usually enough). But on zone 5, winter (frosts or cold temps) is the usual culprit for dead stems and new growth foliage problems. Monitor for late 2021 frosts and if the leaves re-appear in Spring 2021 with no frosts, consider nutrient deficiencies (you will need the soil test to confirm).

Macrophyllas in cold zones tend to lose all stems during winter so you end up pruning them in Spring and all new growth originates from the crown. A re-bloomer hydrangea macrophylla may be able to produce a second flush of Summer blooms if conditions allow the plant to grow the new stems tall and old enough to develop flower buds and open the buds before the growing season ends.

Thank you all for your advise and comments; they are deeply appreciated.

Not having a lot of experience with growing hydrangeas and running through your list of possibilities I think I can eliminate the late spring frost from the list in this particular case. This is the second year in a row of the purple leaves and no blooms on two different varieties of hydrangeas.

The smaller plant (2' x 2') with the single lacecap bloom is original to the site.

Do I prune the branches on on this variety or does it bloom from old wood.?

The other larger plant (see picture below from 3 years ago) was taken home from our small cottage in southern Maine. I do not prune the stems until it leafs out in the spring. Is that the correct pruning method to use?

We had two of them in Maine and they became to large for the planting location so we brought one home; and since it's been moved the leaves have turned purple.

The remaining one in Maine still has deep green leaves; but I am sorry to say it has not bloomed as nicely as it did 3 years ago.

Thanks again.

It is a hydrangea macrophylla and if it needs pruning for some strange reason, it should be done after it blooms. Deadheading (not the same as pruning) of lat year's blooms and pruning to remove dead stems are the only typical reasons for pruning.

If you prune last year's stems when they leaf out, you are cutting off the Spring blooms. Stems that leaf out should be pruned after they bloom.

You can only tell that a macrophylla is a rebloomer when new stems (that start growing in Spring) typically bloom before the end of the growing season. If you know the name of the variety, we could tell you (macrophylla blooms are too similar from one variety to another).

A picture of the purple leaves would help. I did not see any purple leaves on the picture posted above.

Note those words, Gle, and take them to heart “if it needs pruning for some strange reason...”. Generally there isn’t a reason.

Most macs bloom in May/June here in GA. Penny Mac is one that is blooming the latest this year (it has a few blue blooms right now but not show worthy because they are so scarce) but I think it is a re-bloomer - maybe my trimming late last year ruined it for this year.

Last year it looked very good in early June.

The picture above is when the hydrangea was planted in Maine.

In the two years I had it planted in Maine there were no purple leaves at any time.

The leaves on the plant have only turned purple since it was transplanted two years ago in Massachusetts..

That is why I wonder if there is a soil / phosphorus deficiency in the Massachusetts soil.

I'll take a couple pictures and post them later this afternoon.

Thank You

Hi,

I have attached a couple of pictures.

Picture #1 is of the hydrangea after it was moved from Maine (the leaves have been purple since the move).

See the picture 5 post up of the hydrangea prior to the move from Maine.

Picture #2 Close up of the leaves.

Picture #3 is of a hydrangea that was originally planted on site by the builder in 2017.

Leaves have been purple for the past two growing seasons.

Thank You,

All suggestions are welcome.

Oh, yes. If the plants stay like that through the growing season, that looks like a phosphorus deficiency to me (the problem can sometimes be caused by extremely acidic soil pH values too). I would get a soil test done to see if there are other deficiencies too and then consider using composted manure to add more P plus organic mulch (I could not quite clearly tell if you have mulch or what kind from the picture; looked something grayish/blackish? or is it rocks?) and some organic compost. Add these on a somewhat regular basis but do get the soil test done and see what all the soil test results/recommendations tell you.

Take some cuttings and root them indoors for winter. See if the leaves are purple next year when they leaf out.