Hi,

I have a potted hydrangea that has had a calamity befall it and my husband and I would really like to save it. We are in the process of building a new house. This potted hydrangea came from an old large established hydrangea in the ground at our old house. I buried a branch of the established hydrangea in a pot and put a brick over it to get this potted hydrangea started so that we could take a piece of our old yard to our new yard. The hydrangea has been potted for over a year now and has been doing quite well and produced a bloom this year. A few days ago we returned from a week's vacation and due to a misunderstanding, the hydrangea did not get watered all week when we were gone. When we got back, it looked quite pathetic. All the leaves were droopy and some were brown and it did not perk up when watered. We thought it was dead and were very sad. However, I have noticed that on one of the stalks a few green leaf buds have begun to reappear. I am hoping this means there is still some hope of saving it. Are there any things I can do to help it recover (besides obviously keep it watered). Should I snip off the brown leaves and/or any stalks that appear to not be producing any new leaves? Right now only one of 3 stalks seems to be trying to make new leaves. I don't know if this means the others are dead or just haven't gotten that far yet. I don't know if snipping off dead parts would be more of a stress to the plant or would help it direct it's energy better into the recovering stalk. I don't know what variety this hydrangea is except that it is not a lacecap; it was blue in the ground at our old house but was pink when bloomed in the pot. I think the speciman in the ground at our old house is at least 15 years old.

Thanks very much for any help. My husband and I really appreciate it.

Shannon