Sorry to be so granular but I am clueless...Would I dig them up, shake off most of the soil, transport them in a moist medium (say wet newspapers around the roots in a plastic bag) get them to my sister and she would then soak the roots in a bucket until she can plant them? It's quite hot in NYC these days. Although I gather from everyone's posts, we all are having an early, hot spring. Thank you for all your help!

And some of us lots more north are still considered zone 7. Most of Long Island is listed as zone 7. Thats because we almost never get down to zero. In fact I can't remember when we last did get down that low. Getting down to 5 degrees is very rare and might last only one night or so. But our spring does not start as early in the year as the more southern states and of course winter comes sooner. So just adds to the confusion. But I think its great that we are all discussing late bloom and related issures here on the forum lately. I am always for finding more late bloomers. I wanted to add a note about bloom sequence. I have noticed that everything listed as late, and this would be even from the same hybridizer, does not bloom late before some I have that are listed as ML bloom. This would be after a complete cycle here in my garden having gone thru a winter here. I want to use Murphy/Reed intros as an example. ALCHEMIST listed as a late bloomer, is totally finished blooming by the time all my late and very late bloomers are starting to bloom. This is annoying to me because first its in the late blooming gardenbed and second, I bought it because its a late bloomer. Didn't want a midseason bloomer. RED HILL listed as late, really is while NUCLEAR MELTDOWN listed as mid/ML? starts blooming after ALCHEMIST and just before RED HILL. But really close in time. I know that this does not clear anything up but I just thought they were interesting observations.

Hello, Tricia. It is definitely hard to tell as we can only guess at what you saw and experienced when living with these plant daily. So I will guess.... 1. Stems that "look" dry as sand can actually be alive. The exterior woody shell which we see is hard and protects from the elements, just like in trees. But the interior where the sap resides could be green. Dormant too. Why do you not experiment next year? Prune off a stem and see if you see green or is it dry dead inside. If dead, prune two inches below that cut and continue until you either find green or hit the bottom. Here in the south, stems that do not leaf out by mid-to-end of May can be considered dead (mid-to-end of June if located the northern parts of the country). 2. Bloomage may be "later than normal" under such conditions but not thaaat late (September?). Foe example: Leafout happens here in April and about 4-6 weeks later (varies a lot) then I start seeing the bloomage. Things should work similarly for you. How about you monitor this interesting question and post updates as you notice changes. 3. I have not seen such a list. But Hydrangea Macrophylla Maculata can be grown in Zone 6 and, if it is hardy to zone 6 then you can assume the wood can withstand temps as cold as -10 to 0F. Maybe less if they warm up the next day. Hydrangea macrophylla 'Variegata' is a Zone 6er and Hydrangea Macrophylla Light O Day is a Zone 5er. Or so the nurseries say. While the wood may withstand these cold temps, I am not sure about the flower buds. Hydrangea macrophylla suffers from early or late freezes since the flower buds have a weak dormancy. Surprise warm weather in winter or early spring causes the buds to emerge from dormancy, grow and become susceptible to freeze damage; see Hayseedman's famous post on overwintering hydrangeas for more info. 4. Late June but feel free to do the pruning I suggested in Question #1 in late spring if you are curious. Luis Here is a link that might be useful: Overwintering Hydrangeas by Hayseedman

Nearly a month later and all the hydrangeas are in bloom. I'm going to experiment with drying them (I've been successful before) & dying a few to achieve the purple-blue color dd loves. I'll know in a month or two if I've been successful, plenty of time to make other plans. I was not planing on doing all the tables and arrangements myself, though there will only be about 12 tables. If I could slip a few narcissis and (with some luck) very early tulips in the arrangements...and perhaps a single hydrangea I'd be very happy. I don't think the financial savings would be significant but the pleasure would be. She loves the color of the blue twist and shout hydrangea, but I have absolutely no idea how it dries. I have 4 mature annabelles, so lots of mopheads to experiment with...also limelight (floppy) a few paniculatas that might work. There is a local florist who is willing to work with clients who want to use flowers from their own gardens. Thanks for your ideas.