Weigelas are deciduous shrubs that are typically in a full state of dormancy at this time of year. Brown leaves, if any remain at all on the shrub, are to be expected. Perhaps because your was in a container and in a protected location on your porch, it was just very late to get the clues to go dormant. FWIW, this shrub is fully hardy in zone 8 and shouldn't be considered a houseplant or treated as such. It NEEDS the cold temperatures. But because it is small and in a container now, find it some protected location outdoors, then plant in the ground in spring or when your weather permits (dormant hardy shrubs are available for planting now in my zone 8). And give it sun - this is not a plant that favors much shade and not enough sunlight will hinder flowering.

What you describe is the natural progression of hydrangea blooms. Regardless of what type of blooms you have, they start a certain color. Then as the blooms fade, they change colors ending in brown. At this point, you can leave the brown blooms for winter interest or you can deadhead them. Transplanting and planting for the first time may have altered the normal color progression so I would not worry that it did not do that last year. The further south you are and the higher the temperatures, the faster this process can kick start. In this weird year, my shrubs began to flower early in March and the blooms turned brown about 2 weeks ago or so. As for what type of hydrangea, gift hydrangeas tend to be H. macrophyllas and are sold in grocery stores or florists. If the gift was a plant that someone propagated, it could be anything but H. macrophylla is the most common. Some newer H. macrophylla and H. serratas are re-bloomers too and, when you deadhead the blooms, that triggers the plant to produce blooms again. These two types of hydrangeas (the rebloomers and the once bloomers) normally produce invisible flower buds in July-August at the ends of the stems and they open in the Spring. Re-bloomers then also develop invisible flower buds again in May or June and these open in July-August. Other varieties of hydrangea that produce white blooms are H. arborescens (has white mophead-like blooms) and H. paniculata (has panicle-like blooms). These develop invisible flower buds in May-June and then flower in July-August. With few exceptions, these only produce white blooms. Below is a link to a website that can help you identify which kind of hydrangea you have for sure and it has lots of pictures that you can use to compare. The most common hydrangea is H. macrophylla and its blooms are in the forms of mopheads or lacecaps so people just call the plants mopheads or lacecaps. To tell which kind of hydrangea you have, click here: http://hydrangeashydrangeas.com/identify.html For information on deadheading or information on pruning, click here: http://hydrangeashydrangeas.com/pruning.html Feel free to spend time in the website as it has lots in interesting information. To keep the soil moisture in check, try using the finger method: insert a finger into a soil early in the mornings to a depth of 4" and water if the soil feels dry or almost dry. One gallon of water per watering is probably ok in Spring, Fall and Winter. About 1.5 gallons may be needed in the Summer. Once the plant goes dormant, you can water 1g once a week or once every two weeks if it is rainy. Continue like that thru Spring but stop if your soil freezes in Winter. Keep the plant well mulched all year around up to the drip line and feed it nce in Spring with 1/2 to 1 cup of organic compost, composted manure or cottonseed meal. It may be late to mention this since you planted last year but, lower part of the states, hydrangeas will do best in morning sun and afternoon shade. But it already sounds like yours is doing very well right where it is. To make sure that they blooms reliably, H. macrophylla mophead and lacecaps in cold zones are usually winter protected. You can find more information about this by doing a find in the forum for 'winter protection'. Luis

Generally speaking - and I'm no expert here, just have a few houseplants and have been learning a lot from this forum - some plants such as the softer leaves ones will show their displeasure and happiness quite quickly by wilting or perking up quite quickly. But I think some of the thicker leaved firmer plants can look ok for some time even when declining (more water reserves, stronger leaf structure,etc), for example sansevieria (snake plants), so maybe rubber plants are like this too. What I'm trying to say is it may have been going downhill for longer than the two weeks of obvious symptoms. Plus it's possible really high numbers of fungus gnat larvae could have munched on the really fine feeder roots. Although I thought the roots looked good overall. I don't know about the white bugs, you'd need to be sure what they were to know if they damaged it. And the (necessary) repotting was another stress on the plant. Many factors to consider, playing plant detective. It may well be the additive effect of several things. You've had lots of good advice from the experienced people above, on light and soils etc. Personally I would now put it in a bright warm draft-free spot inside, and wait. Don't let the roots dry right out while they're recovering but don't let the soil stay damp either. To achieve this, try using a spray bottle of water on a gentle jet to target where the pruned rootball is, and at the times when you do water more thoroughly leave the pot tilted at 45 degrees (even 30 degrees will help) for 15-20 minutes afterwards and then sit it on towels or paper pushed up against the drain holes for a couple hours. This isn't to remove all the water you just put in, it is to reduce the saturated layer that occurs at the bottom, the "perched water table" (yes, it has a name) Dont fertilise until you see new leaves growing and don't sunburn it by putting it in direct sunshine outside if it's not used to it. Good luck!

If you're watering while you can still detect moisture in the soil, especially in the top 3-4", you're likely over-watering. Use a 'tell' to 'tell' you when it's time to water. Also, plasmolysis (commonly: fertilizer burn) might be the underlying cause. If a plant is growing under very bright conditions and at the upper limits of what it's programmed to tolerate, (which they usually are, at greenhouse/nursery ops), moving them to a position with a reduced light load can cause fertilizer burn, even though the concentration of salts in the soil solution might not have increases. That the greenhouse fertilized when it potted you plant up increases the suspicion that fertilizer burn might at least be a component of the issue. More about using a 'tell': Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al