I have had a huge Bougie in a large pot for many years. It too is against a south facing wall. It gets watered almost every day and frequently with liquid fertilizer that comes out with the hose water. It is in bloom all the time.... usually all 12 months. It has developed a close relationship with the Datura that has taken up residence in the same pot.

Hello, jjbjr. I assume from what you said that you have some hydrangea macrophyllas so the comments below are for those types of plants. 1. If the soil does not freeze where you live, water them once every week or once every two weeks during winter. In spring, try to maintain the soil moist but not wet. Mulch helps a lot with this so apply 3-4 inches of acidic mulch and check it twice a year to see if you need to add more. 2. In the northern half of the country, you can probably do with fertilizing with 1/2 to 1 cup of manure or cottonseed meal in June. In the southern half, you can fertilize in May and July. After the plant leafs out, you can sprinkle some coffee grounds now and then. But stop all types of fertilizing in August. 3. Flower buds for the next year begin to develop in August so prune -IF NECESSARY- after blooming but before August. Under normal conditions, you should not have to prune provided you planted the shrubs in a place where their mature size is not a problem. 4. The soil acidity of your garden could be a problem if it gets too alkaline. If that happens, you will notice the leaves yellowing such that the veins remain green but the rest of the leaves turn yellow. That is called iron chlorosis. To combat this, you can sprinkle Sulphur, aluminum sulphate and many types of liquid iron chelated products available at your nursery. If you do not know whether your soil is alkaline or acid, you can buy testing kits that will approximate the readings for you. Alternatively, have a soil test done. Your local nurseries might be able to tell you if you live close to them. I apply some Sulphur once a year (in Spring) to keep that problem in check. 5. The planting location for the shrubs should be one that gives them protection from the hot summer sun in the afternoon. If you live near the northern states, you lucked out because over there, many hydrangeas can be planted in full sun. 6. It would be nice to know the variety of your hydrangeas. Some varieties require winter protection techniques in cold zones but others do not (mulching is enough). The cold weather in some areas can damage or kill the flower buds and cause no or little flowering in some years (or worse, no flowering every year you still get nice dark green leaves though). 7. Because your plants were pretty stressed, they will likely try to build a good root system first and you may therefore see little action above the ground. Do not panic about that, just let them be. If you get flowers this year, fine. Otherwise, give them another year or two. 8. If not sure how to keep them properly watered, start by checking the soil moisture daily. Insert a finger to a depth of 4 inches and see if the soil feels dry, moist or wet. If it feels dry or almost dry, water; otherwise skip watering. Notice how often you end up watering and then set your sprinkler system to water 1 gallon on that frequency. Do this again if the temperatures change 10-15 degrees and stay there. Apply 1 gallon of water in spring and increase in the amount of water per watering as summer nears. Of course, increase the amount of water as the plant gets bigger and you notice that it requires watering more often. 9. In their first summer, the plants may droop quite often. Do not respond by watering unless the soil feels almost dry or dry. Most times, the plants will recover on their own by bed time. If they are still wilted by the next morning then water them some. Here is where those 4 inches of mulch will pay off! Wilting is very common in large leafed plants so plan ahead if you can. If you hear that it will be windy the next day, water them overnight. Windy days promote water loss as the plants loose moisture through the leaves faster than they can absorb it through the roots. 10. If your soil is alkaline, the flowers will be some hue of pink. If your soil is acidic then your flowers will turn purple or blue. Adding aluminum sulphate promotes purple/blue colors but be careful not to use this product around azaleas, rhododendrons. In high enough concentrations, a/s can kill those shrubs. In places where the soil contains enough naturally occurring aluminum, adding Sulphur instead will work. If your soil is acidic and you want pink blooms, add lime instead. 11. Hydrangeas are mostly care-free plants. However, because they are large-leafed and their soil is kept well watered, they sometimes develop fungal problems in their leaves. To combat that problem, water the soil instead of the plant, get rid of plant debris under the hydrangeas, water only when the soil feels almost dry and do not allow other plants to interfere with the flow of air around the shrubs. Dispose of the dry leaves (in Fall) in the trash when fungal problems arise. Otherwise, feel free to use the leaves as mulch. The flowers too can be used as mulch and doing this will recycle the aluminum back into the soil. It is normal though, to see the leaves turn a little ugly in fall. Yo may see A FEW little brown splots here and there. That is a fungal problem probably but it is part of the dormancy cycle and no action is usually required so late in the year. 12. Florist hydrangeas can be planted outside and cared for like any other hydrangea but some of the cultivars have difficulty in cold zones. It is hard to tell if yours fall into the good or bad class so all you can you is care for them and take appropriate action if a problem develops. Obviously, feel free to post again if you have any problems or questions. 13. The link below has a lot of very useful information. Check it out when you have some time. Let me know if this helps and good luck with those new babies, jjbjr. Luis

I don't think so, Iris_Gal. I *wish* I had kept a copy of that iris order! That is, I did keep a copy, so I *wish* I could find it! :-) Thanks for trying. Thanks, Renee. The rock wall is actually our old stone ice house. The Blushing Rose iris is planted on a stone terrace across from it. Here's a view of the corner of the ice house; you can see how thick the walls are. Ice was cut from a pond (before my time!) and stored in there to feed the family's "ice box." Sorry to say this rose (Robusta) didn't survive the winter. I think last year's severe catepillar damage might have had something to do with it.

THANK you louis...Tx~ I learned a lot here, from N.C. You are totally right, mulch is important; I do use same hardwood mulch that breaks down, only that type, and it pays off beautifully. I have not had to add leaves or cover any Hydrangeas and they are fine, still think it is due to understanding their temperature tolerance levels and mine are all placed near a building's corner, out of course 4 or so feet. They especially do well where they get the warming from the western side of our place. Nutrition- when adding plants in the borders or garden areas I back-fill with a home-made mix that is good for everything, boosts the amount of soil accumulating where once there was just clay- it's from a garden friend- she says to mix it in a wagon/wheelbarrow to have it ready: 1/3 organic topsoil ,1/3 mushroom compost, & 1/3 Black Cow aged manure. I have someone lift the bags(almost always at Lowe's home improvement stores; sometimes I add a bit of peat moss-something I always heard to use, for good measure, and use and keep any potting soil from annual's or dead plants' pots unless they were unhealthy plants. It is great for increasing the amount of the mix , just don't usually use much of that, but it saves $. I keep the soil mix around most of the time, in a manageable wagon (wheelbarrow is fine, too, but my spine is an issue so I can't take chances lifting). YES we have had the colder temperatures than our N. C. coastal home, about 10 degrees difference. Interestingly the hydrangeas of all types have thrived at the freezing-cold farm, whether Oak Leaf, mophead, etc.,blooming by age 3 when spring comes around. My first experience with a Hydrangea was our old,original Hydrangea from the homestead, a Mophead that turned white, green, blush, and was planted at least a number of decades before, by the former owners. It died sadly 4 yrs. back, possibly the deer finished it off as we were not there much and had suffered a bad drought here I recall that year and it was noticeably aging; BUT this being said, it thrived for years, was planted at the very NW corner, benefiting from the protection of the house and Southern exposure perhaps? I NEVER cut it, except for flowers to place inside for joy. I planted more around outbuildings, not the house as it took over the entrance door before, and they are really going well. I pray that they continue to do so up there, because I don't cover anything, and we just had 2 ice-storms switching to 60 degrees F the next week! p. s. last year, this was only 3 yrs. old?!?