Thanks but if I deadhead them now, will it grow new stems like a rose and flower again?

This season I mean

Anybody? I can’t seem to find the answer to this.

No.

Nancy is correct. Deadheading a hydrangea - ANY kind of hydrangea - will not encourage any reblooming.

Okay Thanks so much for the answer. Do you know if humidity or lots of rain can cause this? I saw a strawberries and cream in Spokane the other week, much less humid climate, and it was glorious.

I think you have a very young hydrangea. Nancy and gardengal are correct……. cutting back will not encourage reblooming. I have tree paniculata. The flowers continue to change until the cycle stops with the leaves turning brown. I do cut my blooms before winter as the weight of snow or in your case rain will break the branches as ken said. As your bush grows larger then you can make decisions about pruning. Pruning branches will encourage new growth the following season where you have pruned. They can be pruned spring or fall, but I do mine in fall before the snow. My tree does well in z5b se WI with a good deal of sun.

debra

@Ollie Turner , you asked, “Do you know if humidity or lots of rain can cause this?” Do you mean, can cause the hydrangea to look faded already, rather than lush?

Based on what I’ve researched, when comparing the condition of one Limelight (LL) vs another, consider these variables:

* age: young LL vs. well-established LL

* water: adequate or insufficient for the LL’s age & location

* light/Location, Location, Location: is LL getting the right amount of sunlight, esp considering the climate (hot summer sun vs moderate summer sun)

Rita

Limelight Experimenter

Thank you. Based on those possibilities and the information provided by others on the thread, I believe that them still being young and not fully established is probably the most likely cause. We’ve had a ton of rain where I’m located this summer and the plants are in dappled sun all day, which would help with the hottest parts of the day.

Thank you again to you and others for your advice! I’ll follow up next summer on this thread to let everybody know if this is still an issue.

It also depends on your location. In areas with cooler late summer and fall nights, better color tends to develop. Zone 8 gives us only your coldest winter temperature, but you may see different results in GA vs TX vs BC, all of which have areas with zone 8 winters, but different summers and autumns.

Here in northern New England the panicled hydrangeas are gorgeous in fall, but I have heard a number of gardeners in the SE US and places in CA mention the while these bloom well, they never develop the beautiful fall bloom colors.

That very well might be true I saw one in Washington state where it was cool at night in July and it was gorgeous.

But it’s not that the color isn’t developing, it’s that the flowers started browning. I thought the flowers stay until fall, these browned in the summer even with lots of rain and dappled shade.

In hot conditions, especially at night, they tend to age much faster. It is a rare night where I live at any season that it stays above 70, and most evening summer tempertures are in the 55-65 range. But in your area they may be progressing from white or lime directly to brown. Once your plant is a bit older you will know if they will hang on to green longer or develop pink or just turn brown. As Ken said, when they start to bug you, deadhead the plants.

I've noticed that the amount of moisture makes a huge difference. plenty of water all season = great color change.

The need for water may depend on location, soil, temperatures day and night, etc.. Mine do great in a completely unwatered bed, even last summer when we had something like 1/2” of rain total between midMay and midAugust and so were solidly into drought.

This Strawberry and Cream was just planted around May or June so it could be a watering issue, I am really interested to see whether it does better next summer when it is better established.

Watering so that the soil isn’t dry or soggy is important for the first couple of years with many shrubs, including panicled hydrangeas.

I have found that the color progression varies a lot among cultivars (and yes probably conditions too). I don't think the lime ones age that well. I like Quickfire and Little Quickfire for winter interest, but others I deadhead as soon as they get brownish. Snow load is a real problem for my "dwarf" H. 'TIckled Pink', but I love the coloring. The branches are just not strong enough to handle some of that wet heavy snow. I get breakage and uneven growing. One year there was so much breakage, I cut it all down to a foot like a perennial. It didn't miss a beat and grew to 4' quickly. But those new branches are not strong to hold the flowers. I have to do some staking to keep it from flopping to the ground. I might try some winter supports this year. I am hoping that if the branches get a chance to age, they will get stronger.

Honestly I might look at a late blooming hydrangea. My Bobo is just now getting flowers and it’s the beginning of the fall where they just might turn pink since it gets cooler at night. The Strawberries and Cream bloomed sometime in June. I don’t have much experience with panicle hydrangeas but they would have to last several months before the weather cools down. It’s just disappointing since the whole point of a cultivar called Strawberries and Cream is to turn pink. We don’t really have much snow around here anymore. Even my Lantana over wintered. But I did have to stake the S&C anytime it rained the branches would reach down to the ground.