Which Hydrangea's are reliable bloomers (macrophylla)
jroyal82
7 years ago
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October_Gardens
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Annabelle and Oakleaf hydrangeas, which blooms in the shade
Comments (15)Annabelle is pretty much fool-proof in colder zones - blooms on new wood exclusively. I have several oakleaf and LOVE them! Huge flowers and fabulous foliage. BUT - I don't believe they are reliably hardy in colder zones. I do know that it took a couple years for mine to get fully established - took a lot of supplemental watering for a couple years, but now that they are fully settled they're pretty much carefree. I do have them close to the house, and they don't get too much in the way of winter winds, so I'm assuming that is why I have had no hardiness issues. They did suffer some branch dieback over winter those first few years, though, but have rebounded beautifully over time. I have mine in part shade (a couple under a redbud and a handful under a mature maple) and have noticed that the ones that get more sun bloom better compared to the others that get more shade due to the way the tree shades the area, and the ones in more sun get better fall coloration (fantastic deep burnt red color). HTH :0)...See MoreHAVE: Hydrangea macrophylla 'All Summer Beauty'
Comments (0)I have a few very large mature specimens of 'All Summer Beauty' that I would like to trade only for something on my want list. These are now just starting to break dormancy and I need to move them soon, so either I will trade them or move them to another spot in my landscape. Tempt me now while the opportunity knocks. ;o) As they are large plants I will not mail them but will meet another trader at a midway point between us. For those not familiar with this variety, it is the only H. macrophylla which blooms on NEW wood. A very reliable bloomer for those of us in the colder zones, possibly even zone 4! Please include the link to your trade list for ease in reference as it is very time consuming (of which mine, like many others I'm sure, is limited) to run a search to find it. Thanks so much! -Lily...See MoreHydrangea macrophylla 'Ayesha'
Comments (4)You shouldn't be worry about it in 6b. She's a very early bloomer, so buds that start swelling too early might be zapped by the late frosts, in such case it might (re)bloom in a fall. It's probably the oldest of all Jap. cultivars in US. Very distinct flowers which can't be mistaken for any other Nikko-type mopheads. Sometimes called 'Popcorn' due to succulent(ly) looking fleshy flowers. I don't grow it myself, but know specimen that is probably 6x8' and planted next to short retaining wall along the road, so top growth is not protected in any way. I think it blooms there reliably, except extreme years, like 2004, for example, when nothing survived. I think she'll love chosen location and you'll enjoy it for many years....See Moreoverwintering macrophylla hydrangeas in cold zones
Comments (72)July 14, 2016, z4: I live in West Central MN, z4, have had an Endless Summer, Twist & Shout, planted on East corner of house since summer of 2011 (5 yrs at time of this writing). It gets full sun in morning, a little dappled sun in afternoon for a very short time, rich soil, moist conditions, landscape fabric covered with wood mulch, no turf or other nearby vegetation to compete with. This should be perfect Hydrangea conditions, and while this plant has been robust and healthy from the very beginning, it does NOT get anywhere near its advertised size. (Label that came on my plant says 4 to 5 ft tall and wide.) It dies back completely to the ground every winter so growth starts all over, from ground level, every spring, rather late in the spring, and reaches its maximum size of 2 ft tall X 3 ft wide in mid July. This also means it blooms only on new growth. Though it's advertised as blooming on both new and old growth, there is no old growth that survives the winter for blooms to grow on. I do not cut it back in the fall....don't touch it at all.....and leave the old growth until the following season. In the spring, I clean up the dead and fallen leaves from the year before but leave the old stems standing. (I started leaving the previous year's dead stems through the following spring beginning from the time I planted it, always hoping that, if given enough time, they'd come to life and be that "old growth" that would give the plant that bigger size and more flowers. I've given up that idea, but it's just a habit now. It's become one of those, "This is how I manage this plant because I know it does no harm" , kind of things.) Once the new growth is nearing the height of the previous year's stems, I simply break the old ones off as close to ground level as I can without disturbing new growth, usually ending up to be 3-4 inches above ground level, completely hidden by the new growth. Because they're "dead", the old stems just snap off by hand, very easily, and those few inches that may be left behind have fallen into the soil by the time late fall arrives and the plant once again goes into dormancy, has shed its summer foliage, and everything that was living that summer dies back completely over the coming winter. Over the summer and early fall, it usually has up to 12 blooms at any given time, depending on how much TLC it gets. Blooms range in size from 3" to 7" across (older blooms). Each flower lasts a long time. As far as the color of the flowers, some years they are more on the purple side, some years they are a bit more pinkish. Most years, there's an interesting mix of both colors on each individual flower, often times starting out more on the pink side but changing to purple with a smattering of pink as the blooms mature to full size. I don't know how the plant determines, but it does so on its own since I do NOT amend the soil with anything to change the PH level or influence the bloom color. All I do as far as feeding is give it a drink of water soluble "Bloom Booster" fertilizer (10-52-10) three or four times during the summer, beginning around July 1 (when the plant is nearing its full size and focusing most of its energy into putting on new blooms), and ending the end of August, at the latest. I tried giving it a balanced fertilizer beginning earlier in the season and found that it there was lots of green but sparse on flowers and could get rather leggy. This feeding routine seems to give the best results, in my situation, anyway. I'm very fortunate to live in an area of glacier-rich black soil (black gold!) where pretty much EVERYTHING I've ever planted in my 40 yrs of gardening/landscaping grows much larger and faster than what's stated on the labels. I was expecting the same with this Hydrangea, that its mature size would be greater than its label indicated, so I gave it plenty of room, which is doesn't come close to filling. I've decided to transplant it either this fall or next spring (depending on what I find on the internet for info on how it will stand up to fall transplanting in my zone, which I've not yet found). I think I'll put a Black Lace Elderberry bush in the vacated spot and move the Twist&Shout Hydrangea further down the east side of the house, next to a large bunch of established White Phlox just about to break into beautiful full bloom this time of year. That's my only disappointment with this Hydrangea, its ultimate size. According to my experience, it will never reach the size stated on the label in zone 4, where it dies back to the ground every winter and comes back from ground level every spring. An attractive and, so far, hardy zone 4 plant, to be sure, but not nearly as large as some other varieties in the Hydrangea family, and the larger size is what I was wanting when I bought the Twist and Shout....See More
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
7 years agoluis_pr
7 years ago
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years agovasue VA
7 years agohokierustywilliamsbu
7 years agovasue VA
7 years agohokierustywilliamsbu
7 years agoOctober_Gardens
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agovasue VA
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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