Paniculatas have panicle shaped blooms that start white and change colors as they mature. Because this is a complex change that can differ because of many factors (weather, etc), it is difficult to generalize and give averages.

I have seen some posts dated August 25, 2010 where the VS blooms are still white. I think they were miclino's; how about sending a GardenWeb Email to see how that shrub is doing? ...and also ask when did it turn pink & red magenta last year? Here is the link to the post:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hydra/msg0620325214330.html

VS blooms mid July thru mid October (in France) with large panicles of flowers that emerge white in mid summer, change to pink after about 2 weeks and subsequently change again to red or burgundy (depends on night temperatures). The red coloration is retained for 3 to 4 weeks before turning brown. I have not seen anyone say how long it takes to change from pink to red/magenta. But I am worried if yours stayed white last year.

Can you elaborate what color changes you observed last year & when.... because it sounds like either you got mislabeled plants, the weather is affecting the color changes or VS is not a stable shrub (so some of the VS shrubs experience this "problem").

Luis

Thank you, luis, for the miclino address. I sent him an email--hope he answers.

As for the colors of my hydrangea, for two summers they have stayed creamy white--actually quite lovely, but after over a month of triple-digit heat, they are getting brown "sunburn" spots on them. Other than that, never have they shown even a vague hint of anything other than creamy white.

I hope you are right about the cooler nights, madeyna. Starting Sunday, our temps are supposed to drop down to the 80s and should stay there for at least the next 10 days. Our nights have been nearly as stuffy and hot as our days, but our night temps for the next week should fall down to the 60s. Maybe that change will be enough to get my paniculatas to kick into gear and start showing pink--unless the nurseries sent me mis-labeled plants, of course. I'm really worried that they did.

Thanks for your input. If any change occurs, I'll let you know.

Kate

This plant was developed in Gorron, a town in Mayenne, France. That is in the NW corner of the country; close to the English Channel and Great Britain. If our (your) climate were to be close to the climate that they have (I have no clue what that is), it should react similarly and turn magenta pink/red. The lower temperatures will definitely help but I would have expected that last year, your lower temperatures would have caused it to turn magenta red. And it appears that last year, the lower temperatures did not help.

I do not see many paniculatas for sale in Texas so it would be worth asking around if any other paniculata has blooms that behave (color-wise) like your mature blooms have done for the last two years... in case the label is wrong.

I am in Canada, not far from Toronto

My Pinky Winky, now five years old has been turning pink the past maybe two weeks. Strong and healthy Loaded with bloom

Have not given it any care nor fertilizer this year, Not even extra watering. and we have had a fairly dry summer

Similar story here. Beautiful white blooms on a plant I got earlier in the summer so I ran out and got a second. The petals turn a little pink, sort of variegated, then all light pink. Then they go brown as they get older. No magenta =(. We've had a rather hot summer, and it's soared back into the high 80s and low 90s again. It's supposed to cool off after this weekend, so we'll see what the rest of Sept. brings.

I responded to your email with pics. My VS bloomed in mid July and was pink by mid august. I can't remember exactly when it started changing. Its form is more upright than other paniculatas until it flowers and then becomes arching branches. Perhaps that might be an indication of what plant you have?

We also had pretty hot summer and I have not given the plant any special care. Its a keeper for me.

Well, this is getting very discouraging. I just went out and stared hard at my two paniculatas--they are burning up (it has been over 100 degrees most days for the past 6 weeks--my whole yard is beginning to look like a disaster zone!!!!)--brown spots on blooms, leaves brown trimmed around the edges, everything looking hot and kinda shrunken--it is sad. But aside from that, I can see nothing resembling pink. If anything, the creamy white blooms of what was supposed to be Vanilla Strawberry are picking up a slight greenish hue--kinda like Annabelle does when she has passed her prime blooming period. Pinky Winky just looks creamy white (slightly different style of bloom than the other one) with lots of brown burnt edges on everything.

My so-called VS never did have a very upright form. It has always had arching branches--in fact, I propped up a couple of them earlier in the season.

I guess my last hope is the cool spell that is supposed to start tomorrow. I'm serious--after 6 weeks of over 100 degrees, there is supposed to be a drastic change tomorrow--daytime 80s and nighttime 60s--for at least the next 10 days. We'll see if that does anything or not.

miclino, thanks for the pics. I wish mine would turn pink like yours, but I fear not.

I don't remember now exactly where I got my two paniculatas, but both were ordered online. One definitely came from Jungs--I believe that was supposed to be Vanilla Strawberry. The other one (which was supposed to be Pinky Winky) came from one of the hydrangea specialty places online--one that is rated well by people on this forum--I just forget which one it was now. Isn't that odd that two totally different online nurseries BOTH sent me the wrong hydrangea? Neither one is turning pink.

Actually they are both lovely creamy white bloomers. It is just that I had my heart set on paniculatas that turn pink.

I'll let you know in about a week if any change occurred with our cool spell.

Thanks, everyone.

Kate

Oh, I feel for you. Not only the weather is a bummer but finding potential problems with the shrubs! I hope it is a weather issue! I would also notify the places where you got them from. Your description of what you saw toiday sounds like not enough water and it may be a case where watering more does not help much because the leaves are loosing moisture, a lot, and quite fast. Even some hydrangeas that I have in near complete bright shade (1-2 hours of sun only) are suffering when watered every 2-3 days and with thick 4" mulch.

We have been in 100+ degree daytime and 80+ degree nighttime temperatures almost constant since early June. And with only one good sized rain since May, hydrangeas and many other shrubs are in life support. I already think I lost one hydrangea, one azalea, one vibirnum, one camellia. It is a pain not being able to water more often due to the exceptional drought. And don't get me started about how trees look! Sigh. At least we are going to benefit from the same lower temperatures that you are talking about. Lower temps were waaaaay overdue but they do not help with the drought. We need one of those tropical storms down here bad or someone cooking outside could accidentally burn the whole state -POOF- in a second. It looks soooo dry in highway/areas not watered. Must be like what you see in KS now.

Oh, Luis, sounds like your gardens are suffering even more than mine.

Over on the rose forum, someone from the Pacific Northwest was complaining about the heat wave. His temps had risen to the 80s and low 90s, and he was handing out emergency supplies of water. Maybe that is a heat wave to him, but you and I would call that a cold wave! LOL.

Such a change yesterday--I actually had to throw on a light jacket because it was so cool out in the morning. It was in the 80s at its hottest during the day.

Unfortunately, no change yet in my hydrangeas. But all the plants must be relived by the cooler weather.

Kate

At the end of August, after several 100 degree days in July, my vanilla strawberry turned pink on the bottom but only a tiny bit of pink on the top. There is more pink on the top now after a couple weeks.

Lois, I'm happy for you, but I fear this means that two different nurseries sent me two different mislabeled hydrangeas, both of which were supposed to turn pink but have remained steadfast white for me. Such a strange coincidence.

Actually, both my hydrangeas are suffering bad from the triple-digit heat we had for over 6 weeks. They are literally "burned" -- big blotches of burnt brown on the white blooms, not to mention every single leaf being edged in burnt brown. I think I have found the limits of how much direct sun a paniculata can take. They are really looking pathetic (and non-pink).

Thanks for the pic, Lois. I envy you your VS.

Kate

Too much of this can cause the shrub to abort the blooms so hopefully things will improve. If this weather scenario reoccurs, transplant it to another place where it gets less sun so the plant and the blooms do not suffer as much. If this is truly a VS, it appears that the blooms turn pink/magenta late in the growing season so you want to "defer" drought and sun damage to blooms as much as possible in order to get magenta red blooms instead of aborted brown blooms.

Luis, are you close to those wild fires? Hope all is well with you.

Kate

This website may be able to help. HI-RES photos of newer hydrangea,VS is listed.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/pbrpov/cropreport/hydre.shtml

No, I am in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, which so far is not near any fires. Last I heard some of the fires were located east of Austin, sort of near the center of the state. We had fires on the eastern border of the state a while back ago but I have not read a word about those recently. Thanks for asking.

By the way, Natsu told me that temperatures in the 60s may be triggers for the magenta colors (not sure where Natsu is located though).

Bad news: I read an article that said the La Nin~a weather pattern may stick for another year. If moisture levels do not increase and water rationing gets worse, many shrubs may die.... if not watered by hand which so far is ok. But even that may be banned if things get ugly.

Natsu, thank you for the link. That was interesting. Some of the language was beyond my level of knowledge, but the smaller and larger calyxes made sense. I'm not sure my hydrangeas have smaller and larger calyxes, however. Will have to check them out.

Luis, appreciate your interest in my puzzling paniculatas--and glad to hear you were not threatened by the fires. Guess we will test out the 60s theory this week--evening temps this week will be 60 or lower. We'll see--but I'm feeling rather hopeless since the paniculatas just are not recovering from the relentless triple-digit heat of the preceding weeks/months. They really look battered and half brown--like they have given up for the year.

I'll post an update in about a week.

Kate

Yeah, I am concerned about that as well. Flower buds and blooms are usually the first thing to go when a plant is stressed out and once browned out, they do not turn pink or pink-magenta so I am hoping that whatever is left still white may give you a glimpse of that nice color we see in commercial pictures. I have yet to see the color in pictures taken by people so I am curious if the commercial pictures' colors have been, err, digitally enhanced or if they are true colors? Hee hee hee.

I've been selling the "pink" panicle hydrangeas for years, starting with the old favorite Pink Diamond. In my area, they do not generally perform as advertised. Some years, yes, there is a nice flush of rosy pink at the end of the season, but I tell my customers not to count on it. I think it's a matter of the heat we get at summer's end.

I don't think they are bad plants, they're easy to grow and give a long season of bloom. And Vanilla Strawberry may perform better, it's new here and who knows for sure, eh? But I do think the performance of these hydrangeas is decidely influenced by where you grow them - and American gardeners seem to think everyone can grow any plant in any garden with equal success. We found out that wasn't necessarily the case with Endless Summer hydrangeas, why would the new panicles be any different?

Enjoy what they will do for you, and consider the occasional rosy blush a welcome bonus.

brian

I have a young one yet and the first bloom only slightly pinkened when we were hit with another heatwave, but the ones after are pinking up beautifully now that our nights are getting colder so I'd say that is the key when the nights cool off it allows them to start pinking up.
Cher

Hi everyone--I have returned with a couple photos of my Pinky Winky and Vanilla Strawberry. I just don't know--what do you think? I should warn you that my camera slightly exaggerates the pinkish colors, yet standing right in front of the plants, I can see a slight pinkish hue, at least on Pinky Winky, less so on Vanilla Strawberry. On the other hand, none of my blooms look even remotely like maydena's and lois's photos (those are so lovely), so I still don't know if I actually have a real Pinky Winky plant and a real Vanilla Strawberry plant.

What do you think? Notice the burnt edges on the leaves and the brownish sunburn on VS in particular. That is what several months of over 100 temps does to paniculatas--unfortunately.

Pinky Winky (maybe)

Vanilla Strawberry (maybe)

To me, it's possible that my Pinky Winky is the real thing and that like Brian in NE Kansas says, it can't be counted on in our heat to perform that well. But I really question whether the second picture really is Vanilla Strawberry. To me, it looks more like the old paniculata that was growing there when I bought this property nearly 30 years ago. That old paniculata got blooms very much like this one--slightly cone shaped but much fuller and rounded in the wide middle section, then in the fall turning a faintly colored copperish pink. Whatever that old paniculata was, it certainly was not a Vanilla Strawberry--although a gorgeous white--just like my current one was a gorgeous white before it got all sunburned.

Here's one of the few flowers in my yard without traces of too much sun:

I know--not a hydrangea. Just thought it was pretty and that you might enjoy it. : )

Kate

The color in that pot is stunning. The PW pictured has a different flower than mine . If you look really close my pw flowers are still white in the center even though they are turning pink at the edges. I will keep a eye on that for the next few weeks and see how it changes. Your VS has me stumped I don,t have one yet but I have been watching the nurserys change colors and your blooms don,t look anything like them. Take heart though a year or two ago I was posting that both my Lime Lights were not looking like Lime Lights but this year they surprised me and got real full limelight blooms that look exactly like everyones pictures. So just wait another year and maybe they will surprise you.

You know, I'm developing a theory. I've been studying the pictures above carefully. Both PW and VS blooms look like they bloom in two different sections--the white part almost looking seperate from the pink part--like the bloom develops in two stages. When I check out the top white part, they both look sorta like my (sunburnt) pictures in terms of shape. So what if because of the intense heat we had for 2 months, my hydrangeas didn't develop the bottom half of the blooms--the part that is pink in the photos. Perhaps the sun stunted the growth and that is why the bottom half didn't develop and turn pink? And the slight pink I'm getting now is that second half of the pinking process, except my hydrangea didn't have a first half because of the heat? Or maybe I suffered a touch too much of the sun also? LOL

Thank you for that story about your Limelights, madeyna. Maybe there is still hope. I'm not that experienced growing hydrangeas. Roses are my area, and on the big shrub roses, we often tell newbies they have to give them three years before they will reach their full potential, so don't throw them out until they've had a good chance to develop. Maybe the same is true with these hydrangeas.

Kate

I don,t know if I can say this in a way that makes sense but I will try. This type hydrangea doesn,t develope the whole flower at once . The part on the bottom of the bloom is the oldest part and pinks out first. The top( white part) of the bloom is the newest part and is a result of the bloom contenuing to put out new growth on the bloom itself as the season wears on. This is because the bloom on this type developes along the upper portion of the stem and as the stem contenues to grow new blooms develop. Your right about these plants needing to get a few years on them to hit their stride. They seem to need three years of growning before they really start showing what they can do with thier blooms.

OK--that makes sense. Just reverse what I said about a two-stage process--perhaps my hydrangeas formed the bottom of the bloom (the oldest part), but the extreme heat aborted the second part of the process that produces the top of the bloom (the newest part). (Hope there are no scientist/botanists out there cringing at our non-scientific language--LOL!) At least it will be interesting to see what next season brings about.

Thanks for your input, madeyna. Very helpful.

Kate

I have a PW that's four years old. The second year when it was about three feet tall, it had large blooms that turned pink as advertised. The only problem it was behind a crape myrtle and no one could see it. It was somewhat shaded from the afternoon sun. I built a new bed in front of the house with mostly full sun with some afternoon shade. The new bed had much better soil so I moved the PW to this bed. It grew well but the blooms are smaller and are not turning pink, Same plant, same yard, but different soil and slightly different sun. I think this winter I will thin branches to make it less bushy and maybe it will have bigger blooms. I had the soil tested and it's just about perfect balance with a pH about 6.4.

I am in zone 7b SE very rainy and hit and humid. I purchased two vanilla Strawberry and 3 Pinky Winky Paniculata hydrangeas from Fast growing trees in SC. Mine are over 4 and 5 feet tall now. They have not turned pink except for a tinge in the Pinky Winky in late summer. Fast growing trees said it could take up to 4 years to get the color. I honestly feel these hydrangeas will never match the color shown in pictures till they are very mature hydrangeas if even then. And I think the places selling them knew only in a certain climate would they ever match the colors

it takes cool nights to bring out color the best color in PW / VS.

I have some nice paniculatas. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens

I don't have an answer but for the first couple of seasons, my Pinky Winky had beautiful pink blooms. Since then the color has faded each year and this year they are all white. What's up with that?