Living here in Texas, I do not plant anything starting at the end of May. Witness a Souvenir de la Malmaison Rose that is currently sitting in a huge pot. It is too hot here for planting anything so, my hat is off to you. Plants suffer from some transplant shock any time that they get moved to a new location. Even more during the heat of summer. So here are a few suggestions

Your plant's roots are still is that general area of the pot in which it was sold. So water near the base of the plant, moving outwards. For a newly planted hydrangea in good soil, apply 1g of water; use more if your soil is sandy. Water the soil early in the day; watering the leaves can cause fungal diseases. Mulch heavily. About 3-4 inches past the drip line.

Use this manual method daily to check the soil moisture: insert a finger to a depth of four inches near the plant roots and determine if the soil feels dry, moist or wet. If the soil is dry or almost dry then water. If the soil is moist, do not water. If the soil feels wet, determine why and take any required appropriate action. After a while, you will notice that you are watering every two/three/four/etc days. At that point, you can make the sprinkler water the plant on that frequency. Any time that the temperatures fluctuate 10-15 degrees, check the soil daily again to see if you need to tweak the watering frequency or the amount per watering.

Now welcome to the wilting season! Wilting occurs when the plant looses moisture through its big leaves faster than the roots can absorb water from the soil. It is common during the summer, during windy days and very common during a plant's first summer or two. Wilting kind of shocks you when you see it and your first impulse is to water. I also get that urge here when the temperatures are in the 100-110F range.

The rules that I use for an established plant are as follows If the wilting episode looks extreme, water immediately. Otherwise, let the plant recover on its own (most plants will do that after sun down) and check the plant in the morning: if it still has not recovered, water it and consider if you also need to increase the amount of water from then on. My hydrangeas usually recover by bed time but then, those are established plants. So letÂs give your 4-days old plant a little flexibility with first year wilting episodes: if you see it wilting, water it immediately if the soil feels dry or moist; but if the soil feels wet, let it recover on its own & check again before bed time.

Another suggestion the full sun hitting the leaves of a transplant shocked plant from morning thru 3pm exacerbates water loss. This year only, consider blocking some of the hot sun until temperatures moderate in the fall. Limelight is a tough plant but with transplant shock and summer at the same time, I would try to figure out a way to provide some shade between 12pm-3pm this summer only.

I might counsel moving the plant to a more shaded location but I am uncertain where you are located. In many northern states, full sun is fine for Limelight/paniculatas from a sun light standpoint but many gardeners place Limelight in part shade anyway because it will lose its lime color if planted in too much sun.

Brown spots are a somewhat common of fungal infection. Sometimes they are caused by watering the leaves during the day. I suspect that the plant was in too humid conditions at the nursery too. Fungal diseases can be limited by taking a few simple steps: water the soil very early in the morning; remove plant debris from under the plant as this can harbor fungal spores; do not over water; make sure there is good airflow around the plant. Dispose of leaves, flowers and plant debris either in the trash or the compost pile; but only on the trash when the plant suffers from fungal infections.

Unless the brown spot problem is widespread on all leaves and/or gets worse (include a picture), ignore the brown spots this year and let's see what happens next year. We can apply fungicides then. Right now, the plant is just way too stressed out.

Lastly, do not feed it any fertilizer until next year. Again, your plant is way too stressed. You can start with ¼-½ cup of manure or cottonseed meal then. If you live in the northern part of the country, feed it in June; otherwise feed it twice, in early May and July.

Does this help you, annemartha?
Luis