Yes, feel free to "join the club", Prettypetals_GA_7-8. The last two winters surely have made a mess of many hydrangeas that bloom exclusively on old wood. Two winters ago, my mopheads, lacecaps and oakleaf hydrangeas bloomed badly and, while last winter was an improvement, it was not good and some did not bloom at all. So this year, I am going to winter protect selected shrubs that had trouble. In my location in Z8, the problem was wild temperature fluctuations like yours that made the plants break dormancy just as a cold front reared its ugly head (if it happens again, I hope I can respond quickly and winter protect but work, Thxgiving, Xmas and shopping get in the way sometimes.

So you feel free to proceed once the plants' leaves dry out and the plants go dormant. Maybe place the chicken wire now and the leaves or mulch when the plants go dormant later on. Then remove the protection in Spring, probably a week or two after your avge date of last frost.

I was surprised to see that even in Z8 hydrangeas could need protection. No wonder my unprotected Z5 plants didn't bloom.

Thanks Luis. Any suggestions on making the forms to go around my hydrangeas? I know you said chic wire but any tips on doing the frame? I had wondered if the landscape cloth would help protect them but I really don't want a bunch of white bundles all over my yard. Lol Judy

Yes, nicholsworth55. The problem here occurs when the plant breaks dormancy due to warm temps for some time and that is then followed by temps crashing down. Some people in the northern states may experience that this year if El Nino this year produces unusually warm winter temps and these are followed by bitter cold. But normally, hydrangeas in Z5 need the winter protection so the invisible flower buds that develop around August survive the cold and bloom in early Spring.

Prettypetals_GA_7-8, you can put the chicken in a circle around the shrub. Buy it wide enough so you can use it again in the future when the plant is wider and taller. Macs usually get 4-6' tall and about the same in width (except for some new compact hydrangeas). So you can put the chicken wire around and keep looping until done. Then fill it up with mulch or pile tons of leaves (lots and lots and lots of leaves). Top with carboard or something that will prevent the leaves from flying off and then put a few rocks so the cardboard itself will also not fly off. Then add more leaves/mulch around mid-winter and the material will settle some by then. You can put some wood sticks around to help shape the chicken wire and attach.

Hee hee hee. You are right about the white bundles and the look it would give. Very funny indeed! LOL!!! You could record people's facial expressions when they pass by and startwondering WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED THERE??? Ha!

luis - I've read lots of comments where people have taken off winter coverings in spring & then had to go recover because a frost was expected. This happens with annuals here in Indianapolis. April comes - the stores are full - u buy because it's exciting & then u have to carry containers into your garage or run around & try to cover everything. I am covering my ES for the first time & I am going to resist the urge to rip off the cover at the first sign of spring after reading gardenweb.

Thanks Luis. I will def make some cages and lord knows I've got tons of leaves. I wondered if I aged them up once they dried out if they'd rot in the bag so I may just pile them close to my hyd and throw them in when ready. Thanks again, Judy.

I have some Hydrangeas growing (Central Wisconsin, Zone 4b) I have had them since the summer of 2011. Every year they get bigger and bigger and they put out very pretty pink/yellow blooms. The plants have grown in size each year but this last year (2015), they really took off. THey were huge. However, they produce absolutely no blooms at all. With they way they were taking off, I really expected a lot of beautiful blooms but never got any. I just kept waiting and waiting. What could be the cause? I certainly don't want that to happen again next year. At the end of the year, I cut them down to a few inches after they have died back. The new growth always comes from the root crown.

I have some Hardy Hibiscus growing near them and they really took off this past year as well, however, they bloomed like crazy.

Any help for next year or suggestions would be welcome. Should i cover the root crown this winter? I do have the area above and around it mulched with wood chips already.

Here is a photo of my Hydrangea last year 2014 compared to this year 2015. Notice the significant increase in foliage but complete lack of blooms. You will note the Hibiscus's growth as well.

last winter was relatively warm for us. If anything, the problem might have been an early warm up followed by a freeze. But these hydrangeas dont regenerate from old wood. They start over from the ground. They may shoot out a bloom from a stem but it is only in the bottom inch or so. I was told to cut them down to a few inches each fall which I did after the first year. And they had bloomed just fine each year since until this last year.

Esox, you must have one of the hardier, reblooming types of macrophylla (big leaf) hydrangeas, such as Endless Summer. They will bloom on last year's stems (old wood) if the buds survive, and also bloom on new stems. If you are going to winter protect them with a cage and mulch, that is because you are expecting the old stems to survive, so don't cut them off first which would defeat the purpose of protecting the old stems from the cold, which is to get the early spring flowers. The rebloomers, unlike many of the older types of Hydrangea macrophylla, will also bloom on new wood most years. I don't know why yours didn't this year since the new wood (from this year's growth) doesn't depend on buds surviving winter. Your comment about all the leafy growth makes me wonder if you perhaps gave it (or the lawn next to it) a high nitrogen fertilizer which often leads to lots of leaves at the expense of the flowers. If your plant needs fertilizer (get a soil test done to find out) then use a fertilizer (in very small amounts) that has the number for Phosphorus (the P in an NPK fertilizer, so the middle number) higher than the N to encourage flowering.

Yeah, I agree too. if the shrubs are remontant, you should have had late-in-the-season blooms from the new growth unless something like these scenarios happened: you pruned the shrubs in Spring/Summer after they had developed flower buds; or, your soil has too much nitrogen (like when you fertilize a lot or use some high nitrogen products like some versions of Miracle Gro); or your area has pests that eat the flower buds (deer, squirrels, rabbits, etc); or, a lack of water that could kill the flower buds.

That said, here is a word of caution: some ES owners have complained a lot in this forum about their ESs not blooming at all throughout the whole year. This could be expected to happen at first -when the shrubs are 3 years or younger- but... that does not apply to yours since yours was planted in 2011.

For older plants, the only possibilities that would make sense is if there is too much nitrogen in the soil (this makes the plant have lush dark green leaves only), if there are flower bud eating pests in the area or if the stems were pruned after the shrub developed flower buds in late Spring or Summer but before the flower buds opened or there was a lack of soil moisture.

It is still an odd mystery, since not too many people research this further and makes us wonder what's up with that issue in the ESs???? People with other re-bloomers either do not have this issue or do not have enough to post in forums like this one. By the way, a soil test can answer the too much nitrogen question.

Luis I worry I might kill some of my hydrangeas if I cover them with leaves with all this crazy weather. The one I'm really wanting to protect is Glowing Embers. We usually have consistent cold weather for Jan and Feb and then after that it's up and down temps. Am I crazy for worrying they will die or should I just cover and let be till after our last frost? I collected some dried leaves to cover them with like you said but was going to wait and cover after Christmas. Lots of mine have new bud growth so hoping that's not going to keep them from blooming this spring. Judy

:o))

Yes, I understand. Many people wait for Mother Nature to start the dormancy process and Mother Nature tends to u-s-u-a-l-l-y do this gradually. When that happens, you can cover them once the leaves have gone brown. But, sometimes Mother Nature does not follow the script. In that case, I would winter protect plants ahead of time. Example: temps will plummet a lot below freezing, like lows below 25 from highs in the 70s.

I rarely protect here. It has been years actually since I did. But the last two years have been so bad bloom-wise that I am doing it this year. I already positioned the chicken wire but await for adding leaves/mulch. I also check the 10-day weather forecast on weekends using weather.com so I am not caught unaware that temps will be coming down a lot below freezing.

If the plants go dormant on their own slowly (temperature wise), I will then complete the winter protection at that time. If I see a big drop below freezing approaching then I will winter protect asap regardless of whether the plants have green leaves or not.

Ok sounds good. We've had a freeze already and they've almost all dropped their leaves so I will plan on covering before it gets below 30. Thanks so much

I don't remember what I dumped on them last spring. Probably a high nitro fert. I will look for something higher in Phosphorus this next year. I really don't want to go through the trouble of soil testing. It can't be too bad because I have gotten blooms every other year to include the year I planted them.

Thanks for the help.

Esox, most plants won't need fertilizer if they are mulched with something organic that can break down, unless your soil is lacking something. I'd give it a year with no fertilizer, based on my experience.

Yah, might be a good idea as well. With a lot of plants I have found less is more.

THANK you louis...Tx~ I learned a lot here, from N.C. You are totally right, mulch is important; I do use same hardwood mulch that breaks down, only that type, and it pays off beautifully. I have not had to add leaves or cover any Hydrangeas and they are fine, still think it is due to understanding their temperature tolerance levels and mine are all placed near a building's corner, out of course 4 or so feet. They especially do well where they get the warming from the western side of our place. Nutrition- when adding plants in the borders or garden areas I back-fill with a home-made mix that is good for everything, boosts the amount of soil accumulating where once there was just clay- it's from a garden friend- she says to mix it in a wagon/wheelbarrow to have it ready: 1/3 organic topsoil ,1/3 mushroom compost, & 1/3 Black Cow aged manure. I have someone lift the bags(almost always at Lowe's home improvement stores; sometimes I add a bit of peat moss-something I always heard to use, for good measure, and use and keep any potting soil from annual's or dead plants' pots unless they were unhealthy plants. It is great for increasing the amount of the mix , just don't usually use much of that, but it saves $. I keep the soil mix around most of the time, in a manageable wagon (wheelbarrow is fine, too, but my spine is an issue so I can't take chances lifting). YES we have had the colder temperatures than our N. C. coastal home, about 10 degrees difference. Interestingly the hydrangeas of all types have thrived at the freezing-cold farm, whether Oak Leaf, mophead, etc.,blooming by age 3 when spring comes around. My first experience with a Hydrangea was our old,original Hydrangea from the homestead, a Mophead that turned white, green, blush, and was planted at least a number of decades before, by the former owners. It died sadly 4 yrs. back, possibly the deer finished it off as we were not there much and had suffered a bad drought here I recall that year and it was noticeably aging; BUT this being said, it thrived for years, was planted at the very NW corner, benefiting from the protection of the house and Southern exposure perhaps? I NEVER cut it, except for flowers to place inside for joy. I planted more around outbuildings, not the house as it took over the entrance door before, and they are really going well. I pray that they continue to do so up there, because I don't cover anything, and we just had 2 ice-storms switching to 60 degrees F the next week! p. s. last year, this was only 3 yrs. old?!?

debnsync, nice looking plant! You may know this, but your photo is of a different type of hydrangea than is being discussed here. This thread is about big leafed hydrangeas, Hydrangea macrophylla, while yours is a Hydrangea paniculata, perhaps PeeGee. H. paniculata is hardy to zone 3 and blooms on the new season's growth, so even up here on the zone 4-5 edge I can grow them without protection and get great blooms. They are one of my favorite plants: beautiful, long-blooming and trouble-free! They come in a range of sizes and all have some early light green in their blooms, followed by white and then pink, though exact color and how long they stay in each part of the color scheme varies. If you do a search on this forum for paniculata, you will find many threads. Some of the types include Limelight, Vanilla Strawberry, Quickfire, Pinky Winky, Bobo, White Diamond, Strawberry Sundae, and Little Lamb, though there are lots of others.

PS - in many types of soil, research has shown that in many instances, backfilling with other than the soil one took out can create issues with the roots either being too wet or too dry (due to changes in texture creating drainage issues) or roots not leaving the original planting hole, so it is most often recommended that holes not be backfilled with other than the original planting soil. Instead add the supplements as mulch and let it break down.