Hi Erica, I'm thinking it was a combination of more fertilizer (which they don't need the first year), the insecticide spray, and the sun! Is it possible that he tender leaves did not like the spray on them and burned in the sun! You may have to cut them back and wait for new growth, but no more bug spray and limit the sun until they get used to it. New plants in pots look great when you buy them but they don't acclimate themselves to the elements for a while. I have a bed of 6 hydrangeas in shade most of the day but they get 2/3 hours of sun in early afternoon and this year we added 3 new plants to the planter and the flowers burned to a crisp on the new ones and the older ones that had been in the ground for a year or so sailed through the heat and sun with no problems! The temps went up to low to mid 90's for several days, and all the hydrangeas in my yard wilted from the heat but the flowers perked up in the evening. Don't be afraid to prune them back if necessary, it will thicken the plant for you and you should still get some blooms later on the remontant types. Good Luck! Donna

Thanks Ostrich---I think it might be a bit tight.... Unfortunately I cannot make the bed wider because it is between the patio and house. I guess if they spill out onto the patio a bit that's alright though. I am a little iffy about the location---but I'm going to give it a go. I have to laugh when I read posts about how hard sister theresa is to keep alive.... When we moved into this house 6 years ago I bought a "white hydrangea" (didn't even know there were different varieties back then, and never kept the tags or even looked at the name!) We knew NOTHING about gardening, plopped it in the ground (in this western facing bed) and it's been there ever since. Didn't know that it bloomed on old wood so we'd chop it down to the ground every year. It must bloom on new wood too, because it always has blooms! I guess I figure if a finicky sister theresa can make it in that spot, surely endless summers can hang on to make me happy! lol I lean so much to a formal landscaping style--and everything I did in front is "masses of the same plant/flower" for inpact---so I totally agree with your view. I guess I just saw a couple of these pictures (below) and thought it did look pretty to mix it up a bit--as long as the flower itself was the same. This is off the endless summer website. It is endless summer, twist and shout and blushing bride. Picture taking out the twist and shout.... It totally goes against what I normally do design wise, and Ostrich I respect your opinion so much I almost considered going back there and ripping them out (because of course I already planted them last night while waiting for replies--lol) but I think I'm going to give it a try and see what it looks like next summer.... I can always move them right? :)

I have had the same luck with Endless Summer Hydrangea as Jackz41!! Endless Summer is rated as Zone 4. In northern Wisconsin, I saw that many people did not have good luck with Endless Summer blooming before mid-July up here, this could be a problem elsewhere in the country too. I have over 65 roses so I took a wintering trick from my roses to get Endless Summer to bloom early! I bend the plants completly over and hold them down with bricks or larger rocks, in early November after a hard freeze(this can be hard as the shrubs get bigger, but you can do it carefully) I then cover them lightly with oak leaves and let snow fall on them! As we get lots of snow up here it has worked well for winter protection so the tips do not freeze! I have not had any mold problems with this trick! I have been growing Endless Summer since they first came out on the market, I have seven of them some just planted 1.5 ago. The older plants are around 3.5-4'high-4' wide. They get 4-5 hours of direct sunlight and filtered for several more hours, I also fetilize them with the same fertilizer I use for roses in lesser amounts. They start blooming in the middle of June with lots of blooms in all colors depending on your soil. I just add nail filings to make some of them more blue and leave the rest of the plants alone so I get colors from blue to lavender, purple and pink! Later in summer the mature blooms turn more green, then in fall they take on a burgandy hue with the green. They are really pretty, hardy and long blooming and great cut flowers when dryed as they mature in the Fall. Along with my pee-gee and several annabelle's (my hydrangea work horse) I love my Endless summer hydrangea's just as much as my roses!!

I've had Endless Summer Hydrangia now for 3 years. It is about 3 feet tall and wide and blooms every year. It is on the North side of my house so it gets sun from about 1Pm on. I live near Philly in Zone 6b. I like mine very much and it never has given me a problem so far. I'm not really sure how big it will get! Joann