Gorgeous! Your yard is incredible!

Thanks! The yard itself is half violets, chickweed, and clover, so I hope the plants half make up for it. :P

Very good! I don't have any of those fancy phones but bloomage born of old wood here is now turning green or already brown. The ones that bloom on new wood are the ones looking good as the blooms are white. Oops. That was Mom calling to say I am late picking her up! Will be back to see it again.... :o)

It's not going anywhere! I'm considering doing another one later in July or early August to get everything else that's blooming.

A few vignettes from today:

Very gorgeous ! unfortunately I don't have luck with the endless summer (zone 5a ottawa, canada). I planted 2 shrubs. One has no blooms at all, the other has tiny 2 buds right now.

You have more hydrangeas than some nurseries!..you know of my macrophylla woes but I noticed in watching your video how great the arborescens looked..they make a big splash in your borders so I'm happy that I have lots of those..love all of the colors in your garden

I've said this many times and will say it again, ES needs time, patience, room for roots to expand, mulch / cool moist soil, lots of (high phosphorus) fertilizer, and enough sunlight! People who have complained about failure simply haven't been able to prove all of those items have been checked off. This all having been said, harsh winters (and late spring freezes) will tax any Mac severely, so those are the main factor in holding these babies back.

just wanted to say that although not as fancy..the Annabelles ADD to the look of your garden..just don't want to give any time & energy to the delicate macs..even you had nonbloomers right?..but you certainly have successes..

Thanks Nicholsworth. :) And when the nurseries do get new plants, they usually don't escape me at least noticing! To boot I'm already getting ready for sales now - Home Depots are carrying large Blue Cassells right now and they usually put all macs on sale last week of June! I'm going to replace a Claudie with one.

Now that the grounds are full, I'm moving on to experimenting with containers, as I touched on in the video. For winter, I do need to leave enough room in the garage for some of these, but hopefully others can be snuggled against my foundation walls. There is room for about 3-4 more 22" diameter pots to place around the transformer cover in the front yard, so it's kind of nice to know the work isn't done yet!

Yes, lots of non-bloomers! At least 20-25. Luckily there are enough other things in the vicinity to "carry the weight". Many of these are the ones being migrated to the containers and will sometimes be added to the middle and rear of beds for a more 3D effect with towering corymbs of flowers!!

stepped out & took pics..potted ones started as nothing..killed to the ground winter before potting in the fall 2015..there's a hosta bloom & yellow hosta leaves peeking thru the hydrangea leaves..hoping for blooms next year after root growth this year..a new Quickfire(have 6)..hot now so T&S is droopy..& a reliable Annabelle & maybe a White Dome next to it..

Thanks for adding still photos for those of us with glacial internet speeds! It's a pleasure to see not only all your hydrangeas, but also the way you've integrated them into the garden with other plants. Just lovely!

NHBabs - isn't my new Quick Fire cute?..love it..rewarding after my ES duds..

You have a very enviable shade setting. :) Unfortunately for me, wild grapevines took out (more like choked out) many of the trees at the hill's edge and I've been at war with the large stump portions with a hatchet, literally! I planted the magnolia and dogwood about 5 years ago. Both were like 20 bucks at Walmart!

do LOVE our woodland setting..noticed when I watched your video you have more sun..light is an issue here for the macs..think I'm a little colder than you too..but I have good looking hostas & Annabelles!

springwood - didn't notice do you have any Japanese maples?..love them

No Jap maples. But some folks up the street have a huge one overhanging their front porch (same style of house as mine, but their porch slab extends from the front door all the way to where my arborvitae is. Best naturally shaded porch ever!

That tree trunk in my front yard is a semi-mature Canadian maple that has long been battling an fungal disease. Might have to remove it before I sell the place.

Enjoyed your video and love your full beds. That's my favorite look..

And will you be moving most of the hydrangeas or just start over when you sell your place? I've often wondered what I would do if I moved. I'm sure I'd only leave the larger ones.

Good question, Jill! Yes, I'm basically gonna be moving some of the macs (that aren't easily replaceable) and some other clumps or divisions of things that I wanna keep. This being said, I'm staying in the same metro area so all it will take is a semi and a cart, and some bags. Some useful things like Tuff Stuff I can even saws-all the crown and replant as four new ones!

WOW! You have a wonderful yard, springwood_gardens! Very lovely indeed as everything is so lush and healthy.

Thanks! If some of my stuff gets as big as yours was when you were in the States (I think that was you?) I'll be happy. :)

I'll attribute the general health of everything to a mild winter (roses actually made a showing this year, etc), fertilizer, breaks from sun, and water. Rain has been a lot less than it was last year, so there's a lot less blight going on, but the water company is really going to love me come August.

I love your garden!

Thanks!

Springwood_gardens, your garden is absolutely beautiful. Like an open-air hydrangea museum. It's amazing.

What kind of hydrangea is next to Annabelle? It's purplish-pink and it can also be seen in that stunning photo closeup of your Annabelle bloom.

Thanks! That would be Bella Anna, the "deceased" member of the Endless Summer line of plants. It doesn't grow quite as vigorous, strong, or fast as Annabelle, but it still barely fits in. I would gladly swap it out for Invincibelle II or Incrediball Blush.

Wow! Springwood_gardens, you actually remembered my hydrangeas in the States before? Great memory!!! I was not far from you though, as I was in Cleveland, OH. Anyway, I thought it was tough to garden in zone 5 before, little did I realize that it was EASY PEASY, comparing to what I have to deal with now in Alberta!!! HA! It's not only the temperature swings, but also the hail, winds, etc. etc.

As some would call it here, EXTREME GARDENING indeed!!! And "buh bye" to dear macrophyllas.... sigh!

Yeah, I'm sorry about that - I couldn't live in zone 3 LOL. And yep, I remember those pics you had posted on here. Must've had some lake micro-climate or something, your macs were very large! Whomever inherited those scored.

Springwood_gardens My endless summers are very leggy; I've had them for 3 years now and am ready to rip them out and replace them with something else. I feed them with those MiracleGrow fertilizer stakes and water every day. I have a handful of blooms but the stems droop under the weight and the middle of the plant looks bare. I'm so disappointed. What am I doing wrong?

Btw, springwood I'm so jealous of your garden. It's stunning. Have you always had a green thumb or was it just trial and error?

Thanks! I guess it was both, really. I'd had some knowledge from being a kid/teenager helping neighborhood gardeners with their yard work (my mom included). I also asked people about ideal soil conditions, and with the clay soil around here I just threw out big clumps of the hardest clay (while digging) and kept the fines, mixing in compost, etc. Areas of lawn that were converted to beds I just ripped the grass up in squares and flipped them over for a month til it died then hand-tilled it all up before gardening.

My best ES care tips:

1. Best key is to provide a 24" radius of moist, dark, loose/fine soil (or at least finely ground clay mixed with compost or planting mix. This allows for good root expansion. There should also not be a large portion of the woody crown exposed, it should just look like "canes coming out of the soil". The depth of the rootballs seldom exceed a foot!!

2. Sunlight: 4 hours of direct per day, but bright shade can work; stems might be leggier.

3. Fertilizer/mulch: Use the Shake n Feed type (slow release) pellets after last danger of frost and then cover the root area with 2" mulch. I wait for 5/$10 sales at Lowe's or HD and use brown. The EarthGro at HD has bigger chunks and better color. In June/July I tend to add coffee grounds to the base or use a can of high-phosphorus liquid fertilizer while I'm out fertilizing some of the hanging baskets/annuals.

4. Shade the soil around the base/roots with companion plant foliage, such as other hydrangea, hostas, day lilies (not personally a fan of asiatics). People who are putting their plants alone out in the middle of beds where the soil is cooking all day long are asking for trouble.

5. Water - only enough to keep the soil moist, or if plants look wilted in the morning or just grow very slowly for no apparent reason. Following above steps helps prevent watering issues.

6. Eliminate root competition for water and nutrients. Keep root balls away from or above those of trees, evergreens, or other large woody shrubs.

Thanks for your video tour - I thoroughly enjoyed going on a virtual tour of your beautiful garden! I was struck by how close your hydrangeas are planted & was wondering how that works - do you plant "closely" for the immediate impact & then move plants later, as they grow?

I'm also wondering if you could help me with some shade questions - I have a huge garden bed that borders my wooded area, but always thought it too deep a shade for hydrangeas. But then saw that you plant in a similar area. Do you find decreased blooming in the more "woodland" setting?

Thanks for your help & also thanks again for the wonderful tour! Loved it!!

Thanks again. Yes, I admit I plant somewhat closely for impact. Even when you think you've given things enough room, you sometimes need to reconsider! I found this pic from 2012 of the rear bed (against the woods) and you can see my original arborescens planting locations with the daylilies behind. I cannot believe how much everything has grown since!

But each year I'm always moving things, sometimes once or more monthly throughout each growing season (the neighborhood probably thinks I'm nuts!). Even things that need moved only a foot or two I don't mind doing, because that's another hunk of solid clay I'm loosening up and allowing for root expansion!

Other things have naturally spread voraciously as well, like the daylilies, irises and fuzzy-leaved rudbeckia (these are no joke!). Hostas are even getting huge now. I'm at the point where I'm composting overexpansion; wish I had time to give divisions away or sell them!

With the most recent transfer of non-bloomers to containers, I find there is a reasonable amount of room for everything with the inventory as-is. I will be cutting in Invincibelle Ruby and Incrediball Blush soon, but those are the only immediate plans. I also prune various items throughout the growing season, as new branches always seem to be growing where they shouldn't.

Guess only by chance really, but I subconsciously seem to like the way the Japanese hydrangea gardens are laid out, like a sea of flowers. Without an overabundance of rain (fungal issues) the hydrangeas are very happy planted closely around one another. I will be using large stakes and fencing for Annabelles next year though, as they still manage to spill over onto neighboring macrophyllas.

For me, some things seem to bloom more profusely in shade, while others don't. There's really no rhyme or reason to it I've found yet. *shrug*

At the current time, I would tell anyone to go ahead and try planting at the woods' edge and see what happens. If adding a completely new bed you'll probably need to chop through some tree roots unless the bed is partially raised by fill or new soil.

Thanks for the tips, springwood! I want get working on my garden but the heat has been too much these last few days. :/

Thanks for the tour. You have a beautiful garden and a superb hydrangea collection!