Thanks to Ron's advice......... (1 pic)

15 years ago

Thanks to the fertilizing advice Ron gave me at the KT, my Endless Summer hydrangea has finally bloomed the way it's supposed to after six years! Thank you, Ron!!

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Comments (13)

kayjones
15 years ago
Beautiful!
joan_mn
15 years ago
I agree, beautiful.
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I watered for 10 minutes per station at 9AM, 1:30PM and 6PM for two weeks, then cut back to 2x a day (4AM and 6PM). The timing of the 2x a day watering was because I was out of town and had to time it so I wasn't watering when the dog would be outside. I've now gone to 1x a day for 15 minutes a station. I had really good germination this year. Last year, I watered for 5 minutes and only 2x a day and got poor germination. It was also a lot hotter when I seeded last year. Since it's fairly cool and there is at least a little rain, you may be able to get by watering 2x a day (early AM and late PM) 3x a week if you have some sort of mulch down to help retain the water. I'd also probably water for 15 minutes per station if you can. Are there any exemptions for seeding projects? Some places with water restrictions will relax them for seeding projects.
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Musa basjoo is pretty hardy and in zone 7b you shouldn't have to worry too much about "winterizing"--it's really just a matter of how much work you want to do. If you want to get a head start on next year you can go to more extreme measures and wrap the pseudostems, but I prefer the lazy man's approach: I cut off the leaves after a hard freeze kills them and pile them along with autumn leaves, unfinished compost, and anything I cut down in my garden in the fall in a big pile around the pseudostems. Just leave the pseudostems standing and don't worry about them freezing or rotting; in the spring when it warms up and the danger of frost is past just cut them back until you find living tissue. Mine generally die to within 2 or 3 inches of the ground, but once it warms up they come back and grow like crazy.
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chisue
15 years ago
And the fertilizing advice is...?
schoolhouse_gw
15 years ago
Gorgeous.
jannie
15 years ago
Can someone please repeat "the advice". My hygrangea is looking pretty bad this year. It's only about a foot tall, no flowers. It's in mostly shade. Would you move it?
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
15 years ago
yes please I have the same type and it has never bloomed.

Your picture is just beautiful. Not much prettier than Hydrangea in bloom.
maire_cate
15 years ago
OK Susan and/or Ron - no fair keeping secrets. What's the advice?

I can't really complain all 3 of my Endless Summers give me loads of blossoms all summer. They are my favorite hydrangeas.
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
Ron's advice was to use a fertilizer designated for Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and Camellias. I used UltraGreen (10-5-4). If you want pink blooms, however, you'll need something non-acid.

Endless Summer is supposed to bloom on both new and old wood. Until this year, the plant had no old wood, only new. But for some reason (it wasn't a particularly mild winter, so maybe I can credit the fertilizer) some old wood survived the winter this year. I love these blooms! In past years I had one, maybe two max.

Thanks, everyone!
maire_cate
15 years ago
I guess your climate zone is to blame - does your plant die to the ground each winter?

In my zone 6 b (but acts more like a 7 these days) my hydrangeas don't die to the ground. Each spring I'll have some dead tips and maybe 1/6 th. of the shrub has dead branches but the rest breaks forth with new leaves each spring.

My ES opens with a vivid pink blossom and fades as the season goes on ending with mauve and pale blues.
chisue
15 years ago
I only have the plain old Annabelle variety. I cut it down to the ground early winter. These things are TOO healthy.

Oh, wait. I also have a climbing hydrangea. I've just left it alone. Should that be trimmed or deadheaded? It blooms like crazy early summer.
hayjud_mn
15 years ago
I had one of those last year, but we had a tough winter and it died.

I made it turn PINK by sprinkling Epsom salt around the plant and then thoroughly watering it. In a few days it turned from blue to PINK. As the Epsom Salt wore off, it turned Lavendar and then again blue. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!
nicole__
15 years ago
Susan.....your in zone 5...right?
ronf_gw
15 years ago
You're very welcome, Susan. I wasn't ignoring your post; I've been in the wilderness of Wyoming for the past week. Bigbaby told me about your beautiful hydrangea picture and told me I had to go to the KT and look for it.
I'm so glad it's finally doing well for you.

Ron

PS Trip pics are downloading as I type.

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Thanks to Ron's advice......... (1 pic)

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kayjones

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Thanks to Ron's advice......... (1 pic)

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