I hear you all. Don't know what these crazy plants like. I have 4. 2 new ones doing well in full sun but had buds when I bought them. One gets shade from 2pm on. Nothing blooming yet. Not even a sign of it. Died to the ground over winter. The last one gets sun from noon to sunset with a break from 2-3 pm. It looks as though it may have one bud coming. It has been in place for 3 years now. I bought it the very first year they were out. Dies to the ground every winter and has never got bigger than 12 inches in all directions. I am so disappointed and stupid enough to have invested in 2 new ones this year. What are the other continuous bloomers out there? I am new to hydrangeas It may be time to consider replacing the 3 year old.

I set the cuttings in plain water, w/o using rooting hormone. However, I've heard people stating they do use rooting hormone with good results. I made sure to leave the leaves out of the water but I didn't use any particular way to cut the cuttings. Good luck! Omar

Since you are in z5 I am guessing that this is hibiscus syriacus. Remove the flower bud, because this takes energy away from rooting. Water is a good way to preserve cuttings until you are ready (I only propagate roses in water) to place them in soil. Dip the cutting in rooting hormone and place in a well-draining potting mix (you can buy "cactus mix", this works well, but I make my own) allow the soil to dry between watering, and eventually you will have a rooted plant. You can also see my named selection of hibiscus syriacus here (just click the cultivar name under "hibiscus syriacus"): https://sites.google.com/site/cccultivar/caldwellhg

We don't normally have this kind of heat for this long. Usually the 90 degree days are mid 90s, not high 90s and we might get 2 heat waves that last a week long with breaks in between. This year it's been very hot, oppressively humid from July 1st to the middle of August almost without let up. We did get a great cool weekend about 3 weeks ago? I did get out there and do a little more clean up. I've had my eye on a dianthus that reseeded all around the base and I've been dying to move some of that to a new location. I finally was able to do that and I've been keeping that watered and they are looking good. But really, a lot of the yard has suffered from this heat. We tried to keep up with the watering but we are on a water ban and I looked out and saw the hydrangeas wilting and I was not feeling well and they didn't get watered until the next day. They were fine, but a lot of the small perennials in the same bed were toast. European ginger is all brown. Cranesbill looking fried. Usually by now I've been able to cut it back and I have nice green new growth. Even my chrysanthemums that have been consistently watered are looking worse for wear this year. Normally I could head to the local nurseries and buy some new perennials or annuals to fill in a few spots, but I'm staying out of them this year.