Linda (opnjmprs, You got the bug before we did! We've been so busy for so long that reading/posting on any boards has been minimal. Yes ours are started and growing...around 800 again this year. My belief on getting 1st year bloom in our zone 6a area involves the plant being atleast 8 months old (preferably 9 months old) in August. That means they need to be growing in first couple of weeks of December. Seems they also don't like pulling apart and basically making a bare root transplant (we tried that last year with a few crosses), so we have 1 plant per 16oz plastic cold cup/stryofoam hot cup. They have an awesome root system in these and using a bulb planter they plop rather quickly from cup to the bed. We find it best to get them into the seedling bed before May. I know some like plain soil beds and that's their way of doing things, but we are all different. We have a pretty heavy clay type soil here, so we add Mushroom Compost, some coase sand (concrete sand) and fallen leaves and till it early Fall to around 8" deep. Give them the nutrients they need and they will bloom beginning the last of August for us. The combination the age and husbandry seems the ticket. Maybe the quanity/quality of the lighting helps also..we don't know. We now get over 50% 1st year bloom now; atleast the past 2 years have been this way. Here's a few shots of our grow room last year. It's actually so bright it bothers your eyes to look at them. Seedlings at 4 weeks Our low tech grow room Cheers, Bruce and Tanya Here is a link that might be useful: Our Website updated with a link to the grow room

Choo, that's just what hydrangea's do as the blossoms age. Squirrely girl, no, just the right amount of sun if she had blooms last for two weeks. That's the great thing about hydreangas. BTW I wish our zones would appear on the other side. That'd sure help in mockup suggestions. Lisa, it depends on your preference. On my ES's I take them off somewhere between green and brown. On my limelight I just leave them be.

YG, ".... the label does come from the grower but since they put the Lowes name on their label (Brent, my cultivars were named "Assorted Hydrangeas"), I consider Lowes or HD responsible." I'm pretty sure that big boxes send to growers PREPRINTED labels with their names, prices and barcodes. At the time of the order neither buyer nor vendor knows what will be 'ready' at the time of scheduled shipment. Generic tag 'Various/Assorted Hydrangea' surely suit both of them. If grower also attach small plastic ID tag you are lucky to know what is it, but don't put much fate in it as it might be a label that just become handy. Good example, I was at HD when they were unloading shipment of nicely grown hydrangeas. All plants were ABSOLUTELY identical, about 15-18" tall, full, luscious and loaded by nice pink flowers. All were carrying the same infamous 'Assorted hydrangea' label attached to the pots. To my surprise, when I start picking the plant I like the most, I found that there were 3(!) different kinds of name tags in that shipment: 'Masja', 'Princess Beatrix' and 'Hamburg'. I'm pretty sure that there were not 3 different hydrangeas (and especially not Masja that at 18" will be close to maturity), but rather one of the last two cultivars and grower just hang on a plants any tags that were available with pink hydrangea pictures. It was OK for me to buy such plant as I could afford space for 4-6' hydrangea, but will be very upsetting for someone else who would unsuspectedly bought 6' tall 'Hamburg' labeled as a 2-3' 'Masja'.

These florist hydrangea blooms may be forced to bloom blue, purple or pink by the wholesaler. You can also see them white. But after the bloom gets "old" then it begins a series of color changes that add green and-or pink tones and finish turning brown. If you do not like the bloom, you can cut them off. And in moderate zones, you can try to grow them by planting them in morning sun and afternoon/evening shade. I bought one hydrangea from Kroger's with unusual blooms 3-4 years ago and planted it. Still with me. It is sensitive to cold so I try to protect the ends of the stems in winter so the invisible flower buds that develop in July-September will not get zapped (they open in the Spring). If you decide to grow the hydrangeas, look for a place where they get shade in the summer afternoon. I would add organic compost to the soil if the soil is sandy. And be prepared to water a lot in sandy soil (sand drains "too well"... ha!). Water when a finger inserted into the soil feels dry. Growing them in pots is also another option, provided you can remember to water the pot as needed. Ha! That is my weakness. I forget to water potted stuff... sigh... ;o)