If you are in the northeast as I am, the drought has done a number on most hydrangeas. Water and don’t give up.

Hello, ostrich. Well... I think the blooms look normal from what I have seen. Sort of. This cultivar produces lacecap form blooms, not mophead form blooms. Were you expecting the large mophead form blooms with lots of white sepals instead? The number of white sepals is supposed to be sparse. White Dome has denser looking and more fertile flowers and about the same number of white sepals.

I agree with your other comment that the bloom size and the number of fertile flowers in the center will become larger as the plant ages and with kitasei2's comment in that inclement weather (hot) can produce smaller blooms than normal.

I agree with luis. The flowerheads look exactly as they should. For the first season in the ground, flowering may be sparser than if the shrub was well established but the appearance of the individual flowerheads look dead-on.

Thanks, kitasei2! This one certainly has been a bit thirsty at times!!! So I am watering it more now... thanks!

Luis and gardengal - thank you! No, I was not expecting the mophead at all - I got this exactlly for the lacecap look! I am more of a fan of lacecaps than mopheads but in my climate zone, there are not many choices for lacecaps, right!? LOL! So when I saw the Invincibelle Lace, I was quite excited.... I think that I was just a bit underwhelmed by the lack of "presence" - let's see the photo from this morning of the entire shrub:

The flowers are just rather inconspicuous. I was hoping for something with more of an impact. Maybe I just have to be patient and wait for it to be more established!!! LOL!

Thanks again!

P.S. What else can give me the lacecap look in my zone 4a area!? I have QF, little QF already... but I have not seen White Dome around my area at all.....

macrophyllas don't bloom well in my climate..I think your hydrangea is pretty..I'd love to have it in my garden..

this group of arborescens has White Dome and Annabelle..

Thanks, Nicholsworth, for the lovely photo! I used to live in Z6 too, and thought it was bad.... until I moved to Z4a! OUCH! Now, this is bad.... LOL! Most, if not all, macrophyllas would just not survive here at all.... sigh!

Luis, thanks for the nice list. I have not seen any of these in our local garden centres at all. I wonder what mail order places are reliable and have a good selection of these? And would they ship to Canada?

Thanks again!

ostrich..it's a hassle but you could try overwintering a potted macrophylla in a garage, basement etc..then put it out in the spring..I did it..it works..but I got tired of the hassle..

search "macrophyllas in pots" in the hydrangea forum..I think there's several posts..

Hi nicholsworth, thank you! I think that was very noble and brave of you to have tried it!!! I tried overwintering plants (like tender roses and even a little fig tree!) in my garage before, and it was just way too much trouble for me, so I gave up after a couple of years...! LOL!

One of these days, I may just try to grow a macrophylla here in a protected corner by the foundation of my house with north/east exposure, pile up the leaves and snow to cover it well during winter and see.... or maybe not! LOL!!! I would hate to grow something that would barely flower at all - OK, it may survive but not thrive! That would be terrible LOL

Thanks again for your suggestion!

the only pic I could find..the blooms were eventually pink..spring here has decent days but the nights are cold..so we moved it a lot..out during the day back in the garage at night..it's exhausting..so I planted it..still here..no blooms most of the time..

when I'm all caught up I'll replace these someday..for now they're "groundcover"..

I have a hydrangea White Dome and it's one of my best shrubs. I know I am warmer than you, but if this will overwinter for you, I would recommend it. It's not splashy or even immediately eye-catching, IMO, but once you notice it, you're like, wow. Mine is over 6 feet tall and at least as wide, probably closer to 8 feet wide (I think it suckered/layered and I am going to try to separate them and give one to my daughter), it's a bloom machine, and the pollinators adore it. Sometimes I just stand and watch it when they are all over it - what a show.

The blooms are pretty, and age to a nice green. I used them in my daughter's wedding arrangements.

I'm sorry I don't have any really good photos of it, but here are a few

(pay no attention to the messy garden in front of it!)

I did buy mine online but don't remember where... possibly Bluestone, way back when....

:)

Dee

P.S. I used to overwinter over 200 pots in my garage every winter! Did that for years!

Dee..Wow!..over 200 pots?..tell us what you saved..I save hosta and tropicals..about 50? pots..hosta stay in the shed..rest in a spare bedroom, kitchen or living room..

I agree with you about White Dome..I love it..have you had volunteers?..I've had quite a few..I moved some of them..

Oh my goodness, nicholsworth, I overwintered sooo much stuff. No tropicals though - they're just not my thing. I had roses, hostas, and pretty much any kind of perennial and shrub. Pots ranged from 16 inches to two-inch pots. I overwintered a LOT of stuff that I bought and never got around to planting haha! Some of it still in the little two-inch pots and some of it repotted into larger pots. Other stuff was meant to live in pots but got brought in for winter.

I would drag everything into the garage after it was dormant, make sure it was well-watered, if there were snow in February I would throw some shovels full of snow over everything at that point, and then drag it out in the spring. Some stuff would get planted but there was always something new to replace it lol.

Eventually I got control of my perennial buying, lol, got my gardens established and got most things planted. I did lose a few things but honestly not a whole heck of a lot. About 3-5 losses per winter, which isn't a lot with that many pots.

I never noticed seedlings from my White Dome! I will definitely have to check. I thought there were some layered/suckered plants (about two new ones) but maybe they were seedlings.

:)

Dee

Dee..that's great that you lost such few plants!..most of what I overwinter are warm climate plants..

just so you know..my White Dome seedlings aren't next to my original plants..

there's several underneath this Amur maple and Japanese maple..one of the White Domes is about 6 feet away..

nicholsworth what a lovely garden! Looks like the perfect place to sit and relax on a warm day! I don't think I ever noticed any seedlings, which is disappointing lol, but now I will be on the lookout for them.

:)

Dee

If you just want the lace cap look and are not wedded to Hydrangeas, one of the Viburnum plicatum cultivars might suit. They’re tough although I don't know if they are hardy enough for your location.

nicholsworth, your yard is so lovely! I so wished that I had a mature shaded area like that! So natural and relaxing. Love it!

floral, I am considering a viburnum as well, for that lacecap look in the spring, but as you say, it's tough to find one that survives our winter here! LOL! So then I will have the lacecap flowers for both spring (viburnum) and summer (hydrangea)!

ostrich..thank you!..I do love wooded lots..

in this pic you can see the ones I planted a bit behind the ones that were volunteers..I couldn't have possibly planted underneath 2 established maples even if I wanted to!..so glad to have them..

my shade..

Nicholsworth, thank you! These are absolutely gorgeous!!! I so wished that I had a wooded lot, but I don't... so I will have to live vicariously through yours! Oh my goodness, that little visitor is really cute and that red-leafed little tree.... isn't that a Japanese Maple? I so missed the one that i had when I lived in Zone 6 before! I am such a fan of shaded plants so I would love to have such an area on my property... :-)

Can you just tell me though - how much work is it to maintain such a wooded lot? I can imagine that to maintain the naturlized look, either it is little work, or it can be even more work to make it look neat and yet relaxed. What is your real life experience please? I would love to hear that from you!

Thanks again for the gorgeous photos - LOVE THEM! Thanks.

ostrich..look who came by when I was making coffee this morning..🦉

I'm not gonna lie..I'm retired and work outside for hours and hours..some people in the neighborhood do very little..their lots are still attractive but I prefer mine 😂..

Nicholsworth, your hard work really has paid off and it shows!!! That's what I want to do when I retire - to spend lots of time to make my yard beautiful! Very lovely gardens indeed.... and what a nice surprise visitor!!!!! :-) Thank you again for sharing the lovely photos!

Update (July 22/2023):

So I was at a nursery this morning browsing the many rows of hydrangea and I was impressed with all the bee activity on one particular variety. I checked the tag and low and behold it was Invincibelle Lace. So of course I quickly checked this forum for some feedback. @ostrich what say you this year re your IL?

rouge21_gw, my 2 IL's survived the harsh winter this past year without any dieback. This is their third season here! They are blooming just fine, but I must say that they are not that vigorous and the blooms are also a bit less striking than I was hoping them to be. They are lovely and very dainty, but the flowers fade fairly quickly and perhaps overall a bit "lackluster" if that is a fair statement....

I am glad that I got them but I am certainly slightly disappointed. I just wished that they were more of a showstopper for me...

Thanks for the reply @ostrich. I saw IL at a private garden and it was buzzing with bees and the like. And because of this it made me happy. And because of this I picked one up :).

And now in the ground:

Totally agree. I planted one in Spring 2022 so like yours it hasn't been in the ground for long but sparse blooms. I'm guessing it needs s lot more sun to look as gorgeous as the pictures from proven winners!! Still, I want to get 2 more for a sunnier location....we'll see!!

UPDATE: June 2024

I planted this ILace hydrangea last summer 2023 (post and picture somewhere above).

Of course it made it through the winter just fine. It is now in bloom; for sure there are lot of flowers but they are clearly quite small (so far); maybe it needs more sun.

Thanks, rouge! My 2 survived our winter again (while quite a few other plants did not!) but they have remained rather small overall. probably like 2 feet by 2.5 feet tall. There are a few buds but the yare hardly close to blooming yet.... I am going to give it more time.... sigh! Yours is lovely and lush! But yes, the flower heads are a bit small.... that's why I don't know if this guy is a keeper...!!!!

'ostrich', It is hard to see in my posted picture but the bright white petals contrast nicely with the interior dark pink and It is eye-catching in this part of the garden. It is a keeper for me.

Thanks, Rouge! I will see how mine do this season!

BTW, what is that lovely yellow plant with the lacey leaves in the bottom right hand corner of the photo above please? Is that a golden elderberry please? If not, what is it please? Thanks!

Looks like it could be elderberry but it is in fact a Japanese Maple. Too tender for your location I'm afraid.

(Seeing lots of bees on this hydrangea)

Lacecap form blooms have lots of fertile flowers and attract pollinators, more so than mophead form blooms.

Yup...for sure. But ones like IL and Haas Halo attract way more pollinators than say...any Tuff Stuff I have)

I have the Invincibelle Ruby and that is exactly the way my husband and I describe it - underwhelming. Compared to our Limelight, Quickfire, Zinfin Doll, Little Quickfire Panicle Hydrangeas and our Let's Dance macrophylla varieties, that is exactly what they are. I have many flowers but they came out lacklustre in ruby red then faded to pink and now have gone to a shade that pretty much blends with the foliage. I have tried more water, less water but doen't make a difference. I have three placed in spots around the house that have shade during parts of the day, and one that has sun all day and they are all the same.

I have the Invincibelle Ruby and that is exactly the way my husband and I describe it - underwhelming. Compared to our Limelight, Quickfire, Zinfin Doll, Little Quickfire Panicle Hydrangeas and our Let's Dance macrophylla varieties, that is exactly what they are. I have many flowers but they came out lacklustre in ruby red then faded to pink and now have gone to a shade that pretty much blends with the foliage. I have tried more water, less water but doen't make a difference. I have three placed in spots around the house that have shade during parts of the day, and one that has sun all day and they are all the same.

I think I like mine better than you like yours and I appreciate that the flowers are fertile unlike many paniculatas. (But if you want a more flashy smooth hydrangea get ahold of Haas Halo).

I put IL in the more naturalized part of my shade garden where I think it fits in nicely. Vigorous grower and low maintenance. The pink mophead arbs I have not been impressed with any of them on the market. The intense color is short lived and the fade out is kind of blah. Plus some are just weak growers up here.

I put IL in the more naturalized part of my shade garden where I think it fits in nicely. Vigorous grower and low maintenance.

Exactly the same here @pennlake.

Just as a follow up to you all! My IL this year remains rather small and it is NOT a vigorous grower at all! However, it does seem to have many more flower buds this year.... so we shall see how it turns out. It is still just a little small shrub after several years now.... hmmm.....

Ostrich, oh, no! I just purchased two IL. I'm going to plant them next to my Haas Halo, which is huge - over 5'. I like the pink and white combo. I think yours looks great. ll

bellarosa, I wonder if it is just me, as others seemed to have had good success with them... my two this year have lots of blooms but they are small and not that great. So if they do not do well again next year, they will be dug out!!!! Maybe others can share their experience too....

ostrich, I was wondering... In your zone 3 in Edmonton, can you grow Smooth Hydrangeas on the south side of the house in full sun?

luis_pr, long time no see! How are you?

In Edmonton, these guys do fine in full sun! However, when I was in Calgary, I grew Incrediball (or were they Annabelle!? LOL) and they really wilt badly with too much sun. Then I would water them and they would perk right up. It was just too much work! LOL!

The temperature swing here is crazy and the sun is really strong. So even at 26 degrees C, it could feel much hotter due to the strong sun. So I think that while these smooth hydrangeas do OK here in full sun, they may need a good drink of water still.... thanks!