I have one indoors, its not doing real well im just waiting for the right time to put it outside.

For now i will assume you mean until it is safe for them to go outside or until flowers are spent, and the answer is yes. If i misunderstood, i will need you to be a little more specific.

I believe the question should read "Hydrangea as a houseplant?"

Not short term, but permanently.

I think this is what they want to know. I don't know the answer but maybe this makes make the question more clear for someone that does.

Tuck

I have a hydrangea vine I had been hoping to grow indoors - because it's a slow grower and likes partial light - but have had very little luck with it. It seemed to go dormant back in November, and now it's got 3 miserable excuses for leaves on it. I'm hoping it'll still be alive through May so that I can get it outside and planted in the ground.

roseyd - if you mean you have a Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris it is a totally hardy deciduous outdoor plant which should be dormant at this time of year. So lack of leaves should not trouble you. It should not be growing actively now but resting. Honestly speaking, you would have been better advised to plant it out last Autumn rather than keep it inside. I would move it to the coolest place you can with plenty of light e.g. garage window, porch or somewhere. Then start hardening it off gradually and plant it outside as soon as your weather allows.

As a permanent houseplant.....i just don't know :( What i do know is that during winter the plant will not be aesthetically pleasing.....Seems roseyd is already trying, perhaps when the weather warms up we will see how well it did.

Let me be more specific. My questions are:

(1) Is it a good idea to keep a potted Hydrangea in doors all year round? The answer seems to be no so far.

(2) Is it possible, with sun deck and winter garage, to keep Hydrangea semi-indoors, with success?

(3) Will a Hydrangea grow so large that it is not suitable for normal ports?

May I pls ask if you're sure it's a Hydrangea? All Hydrangeas I've ever seen or read about are shrubs,not vines. I have never seen a vining Hydrangea, could your ID perhaps be mistaken?

1. No
2. No
3. Yes

Otherwise refer to Meyermike's most excellent answer

Hi all........I agree the answers are.... NO, NO, YES.....
as Mike said hydrangea are schrubs...and yes there is one that is a vine....and yes they need a freeze or dorment time to rest and then in the spring regrow and bloom for the new year.....and yes refer to Mikes post....linda

Oh, mine is a vine - labeled "roseum" - it will hopefully one day have pink flowers and actually vine - but for now it's a couple of twigs growing out of a pot that's about 6" tall.

I got it in mid October and thought it was to chilly to put it outside at that point in the year, since we'd already been getting nightly frosts.

The dormancy had seemed to end - and it grew 3 leaves, and then not much else has happened. The plant doesn't appear to happy in its little 6" pot. If we get some significantly warmer weather, come mid April - I'll be putting it outside and hope for better luck with it.

She definitely didn't make an appealing houseplant this winter.

I had similar bad luck with a honeysuckle vine ... and a mandavilla... Maybe I'm just bad with vines? :)

So all that said, I just recently got 2 clematis vines from logees - and I'm enthusiastic to get those in the ground before I disappoint them with whatever I do bad with vines inside.
They're just waking up and I'm getting a few leaves, and a branch or two...

Last September, I had it in my head, that just about any outside plant could be a houseplant. And, now it's spring - and I'm hoping that whatever can be salvaged from these sad houseplant attempts - can make good garden additions.

I realize Hydrangea is a diverse group. My original question is for the most common type sold in stores. I think they are cultivated from Hydrangea macrophylla.

I second, or rather 3rd with the others;
1. No
2. No, but worth a try if you can get them very cheap.
3. Yes.

roseyd - 'Roseum' is a cultivar of Schizophragma hydrangeoides which is similar to Hydrangea anomola subsp. petiolaris but is not a true Hydrangea. It is commonly, but incorrectly, called pink hydrangea vine.

This, like the Hydrangea anomola subsp. petiolaris I mentioned before, is a totally hardy deciduous vine. It will not grow successfully indoors. It climbs by aerial rootlets, not by twining or tendrils. A 6 inch pot is far too small for this thing. In the wild it grows up trees and can reach 30 feet or more and it will also grow on walls. I suggest you research it under its scientific name where you will find plenty of information about looking after it. As I suggested before you should harden it off and get it outside asap.

If you decide to buy any more vines, or any plant for that matter, I would highly recommend looking them up by their scientific names before purchase as I believe your lack of success is not down to lack of love and attention but to not being familiar enough with their needs to give the right care. Or go onto the relevant GW forum for the plant you are contemplating and ask for some tips from others' experience. Good luck with your Schizophragma!

pirate_girl, as you can see from the above there is a true climbing Hydrangea, as well as the Schizophragma.

Here is a link that might be useful: Schizophragma hydrangeoides 'Roseum'

This post was edited by flora_uk on Fri, Mar 29, 13 at 14:56

It's only in a small pot because the plant is still small!

If she doesn't show any sign of growing and has been dormant - there's no point to put her in a larger pot to take up my valuable south window space.

She'll be outside as soon as we've seen the last frost of the season. I really need the room (and soon) - to repot the succulents who've really overgrown their pots this past year.

Flora, I did research the vine quite enough before buying it. I liked the idea that it was listed as a slow grower, and hence the reason I got it so late in the season thinking to start its grow cycle inside through the winter. I should have realized that it would go dormant and not have bothered. But - oh well - lessons learned.

The plant is only 4 inches tall, with 3 branches that measure outwards about 7 inches total. It came to me in a 4 inch starter pot, and the roots (and hadn't been root-bound) - a 6 inch pottery replacement was for esthetics more than for necessity.

flora_uk, thank you for your information about Schizophragma hydrangeoides 'Roseum'. It superficially reminds me of a tree called Emmenopterys Henryi. Are they in the same Genus?

I have a hydrangea that I bought at a grocery store, one of the "antique" types with mahogany bracts. It's doing just fine in a container a year later, and will go in the ground soon.

I also have one that I grew from a bloom head (cut flower) that I got at the florist dept. in another grocery store, and it rooted and is doing fine, too, in a pot, and will go into the ground soon, too.

But houseplants? No, I don't think so.

Hi
I'm in 10 florida so mostly what I grow are "houseplants" though mostly in pots but outdoors for most of the year.
Hydrangea for me will grow BUT fails to reflower . They grow gorgeous ones in 8 even 9. Obviously the difference is "winter"
Any plant that requires a cold or even cool rest period would be a poor choice as a house plant . Though i continue to struggle with Venus fly trap lol It spends the winter in the crisper of the fridge lol
Anyway good luck with whatever you decide They do have very attractive foliage gary

I have a friend whos mom has a hydrangea indoors year round and it blooms every spring through summer and she's had it in the same pot for a while.
So i don't really know what you guys are talking about.

katsols 7b (My Page)
Unless your friend's .. mom have freezing temperature indoors every winter. I encourage you to be better informed.

This post was edited by jujujojo on Wed, May 8, 13 at 15:27

Interestingly it is listed in my old House Plant Expert book by D.G.Hessayon.
As are many plants that are now seen as garden plants.

Some cultivars are better suitable for smaller pot, but they also grow large. See below:

{{gwi:76856}}