What hydrangea has very dark stems?
sue36
13 years ago
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luis_pr
13 years agosue36
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Favorite Full Sun Hydrangea with Sturdy Stems
Comments (13)I would like to suggest a little project if you have the space and time. Try growing H. paniculata from seed. Gather the seed in Oct-Nov by placing a dried flower head in a zip-lok bag and shake. Tilt the bag so a corner is down and the dust you see in the bottom is the seed. Clean away all the chaff and store the seed in a cool place until you're ready to sow. Seed germinates in 7-10 days and a first year plant can be 12-14 inches tall depending on how many times you pinch back the new growth. I usually repot 4 times during the first year growing season. I suggest a cold frame the first winter and plant out the following spring. Protect from deer if they are around. The plant may bloom that year, but the key here is to get some growth and structure. Will definitely bloom the next year and third year some plants should grow to 4-5 feet tall. This is very easy to do and the differences in plants is fun to watch. I use Pink Diamond seed exclusively for this and grow some every year. I also am a volunteer grower for an arboretum and we did this with four different seed sources and now have a bed of 55 in their 4th year. Lots of differences in these plants and many mimic the cultivars we are now seeing in the retail trade. If you need a seed source, email me and I can provide you with plenty. Marshall...See Morewhat has 'sheared' the stems at ground level???
Comments (1)Deer LOOOOVE hydrangeas and will eat them to the stub....See MoreHydrangea looks scorched with brown stems
Comments (4)Mine get sun until about 2-3, and I'd say that is the maximum they can get in my zone. I'm in Maine, but actually on the border of 5/6. If they are in sun most of the day I'd say they are getting too much sun. Do you have a spot you can move them that gets less, maybe morning only? Or in your zone, even dappled all day? You might want to post a a pic so we can get a better idea of what you are dealing with....See MoreHydrangeas stems falling down
Comments (8)You appear to have a hydrangea arborescens (Annabelle, Incrediball, Invincibelle, etc.) whose stems -when young- can flop due to the weight of the blooms, weak stem DNA, windy weather, water in the blooms, etc.... As the stems become older, they will turn more woody and will be able to hold more weight but up to a point. Some varieties like Incrediball and Invincibelle can hold more weight and flop less but, despite the advertising, they not immune to the problem. They too have limits and may flop by the end of the season if the right thunderstorm passes by near the end of the season. Hydrangea arborescens blooms like those start green, turn white and continue through a series of color changes as they get older. I suspect that after they have been white now for a while ( month or more), it is time for the next color change, which usually adds a green tint again. Eventually, the bloom will end brown and remain attached to the stems for quite a long time. You can deadhead spent blooms at any time. see the last section at the bottom of this link titled Deadheading hydrangeas: https://plantaddicts.com/pruning-hydrangeas/ Sometimes the color change goes directly from white to brown if the plant needs more water and does not get it. It can be common in the summer time. Hydrangeas tend to suffer from heat stress and may wilt as a result of temperatures above 85F, very windy conditions, lack of water, too much sunlight, etc. Maintain the soil as evenly moist as you can and with 2-4" of organic mulch (no rocks). There may be indirect sunlight hitting the plant as a result of surfaces in the area too. As the root system becomes older and more capable to absorb more water, this problem may be reduced but it tends to occur during the worst part of the summer. I used to use some wire fencing around my Annabelle Hydrangeas, which also displayed similar issues. I found it was best to add this during the winter as there were no leaves to block the view and I could see the internal stem "structure" of the plant and place the wire closer and in better locations. But fencing is something that can be done at any time of course. I do have a habit nowadays of taking a look at the dormant plant during winter and tweaking the wires due to new stem growth, etc. I like to get dark green colored wire fences that eventually get "swallowed" and hidden by all the leaves. Select a height that seems appropriate. Put it around the plant, very close to the stems and "adjust" the fence closer or further away from the stems. Like when one tightens a belt around the waist. If still flopping, move the fencing closer to the center of the stems, as if tightening the belt around your waist. Repeat until you get a look that is "acceptable" to you. I find that starting this fencing in the middle of the growing season does not look as good as when I start the fencing before leaf out time... but, that is just my opinion. You can also strategically cut a few blooms to help with flopping or somehow protect the blooms from getting wet or from getting too much wind but that usually requires transplanting though. I do not recommend completely pruning stems because they get replaced by new stems. And new stems are weaker. As the stems get older, they become more woody and can handle more weight without a lot of bending. So I prefer to keep older, woodier stems. But there are limits to that, of course; sometimes the stems will bend too much and not straighten (or break) so, I understand..., you may have to prune woody ones at times... In those cases, I get cuttings and start new plants for myself, for someone else or for a garden club sale. With Annabelle, I once planted a second Annabelle close to another Annabelle to see if each one would "help" the other not flop as much. In the center of the "combined" bushes, that helped but, not in the periphery. I have seen some people who used low fences also use a stake and green strings as a support system, tucked in close under the branches so that, as the plant leafs out and grows, the supports are hidden. Their Annabelle was also wedged in between a large rhododendron and a spirea that help prop it up, so the Annabelle looks OK even after several pounding rains and a hailstorm the prior day. Of course, just a string would be the quickest way. Buy a tall enough fence stake, pound it in the ground behind the plant with a sledge hammer or whatever; then do an inner and outer lasso. You can also lasso to a fence or structure if one exists. For sure, a single specimen in an "unsheltered", windy location will probably suffer more flopping. As the stems get older and woodier, this may not continue being a problem for long. They are close to the pool though so it may be necessary to prune in order to keep their size in check....See Morehokierustywilliamsbu
13 years agosue36
13 years agodonna1952
13 years agosue36
13 years agohokierustywilliamsbu
13 years agowild_belief
13 years agosue36
13 years agoblueeskimo
13 years agogaryz8bpnw
7 years agogaryz8bpnw
7 years agoH. nigra has black stems and can be anywhere between blue, white or pink with pH.
Cuttings taken from same H. nigra grown in different shady loocations in our yard.
garyz8bpnw
7 years agoThis is H. 'Selina' also with darkish stems grown in front of a H. nigra. The blackish stems look great together.. I like the effect for the edge of shady boarders with the shorter 'Selina' in more sunny front spot. 'Selina' has brownish red new growth too. Nigra is a mophead and Selina a lacecap when viewed from top.
Selina starts more with a light center and colors up over time.
H. nigra mopheads can get beautiful brushed color effects. Flower petals are a bit larger than many hydrangea.
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
7 years agogaryz8bpnw
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoThx for request. I've updated our zone, which is 8a, just south of Seattle, WA.
Found a photo of our H. '(Blue) Enchantress'. Can be darker blue flower, but this shot looked like the request above. It does have black stems with a reddish hue (like the requested ID photo). In fact, Monrovia lists it as having Ruby Black stems. Also it gets the same brownish tones on the leaves as in the photo. Best of all it is a rebloomer for us. It is one of my favorite blooms on the newer hydrangea introductions.
H. 'Zebra' and H. nigra much blacker stems for us.
garyz8bpnw
7 years agoAttached is a photo from Monrovia for H. 'Blue Enchantress'. It sold in Seattle area under the name 'Enchantress' for a couple years, then they added Blue to the name. Sky Nursery in Lynnwood had a big display bench of it with choice of blue or pink (added alkali) grown flowers. has quite large flower heads.
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sue36Original Author