Just wanted to mention that I DID get a lot of bloom on my two well-established Endless Summers last season. Most of the bloom was early, as Calliope said, followed by a small amount of later bloom sprinkled throughout the remaining season with some still opening late in fall. This year I got only a small amount of bloom along the brick wall side of the shrubs (as I previously posted) and NO additional bloom yet as of late August. A few branch stems do have some tiny buds. Last year I had buds in all stages of development at this time of year plus fresh opening flowers. So ES has not been a total bust for me, as macrophyllas do not generally bloom at all here (unless heavily protected or you are just plain very lucky). In an earlier home closer into the metro area I did inherit an unknown Hydrangea macrophylla that did occasionally (every 3 years or so) put out a handful of blooms for me. My ESs are on the east side of my house along the brick wall, but received no other protection and have never been fertilized, except one year when I used Aluminum sulfate (if that counts) to turn them blue. Worked pretty well.

Out here in Illinois, about 2 miles from Lake Michigan with heavy clay soil, my local nursery recommended planting the trunk flare junction "even with or 1-2" inches above existing grade." I didn't understand what this meant at the time, but I'm thinking it's consistent with planting above grade, so I think I'm going to aim for that. If I'm interpreting the local nursery instructions wrong, please tell me! Here is a picture of our front bed. There is room to move the hydrangea over to the right and forward (and I think, aesthetically, it would probably be better placed there), so I am planning to do that. That will allow me to dig an entirely new hole, which, this time, I will dig only to the depth of the root ball. Depending on what the soil looks like, I plan on tilling the entire area between the old hole and new hole (or double dig) to combine the soils together. Question: If the soil very over amended, should I still do this? Or would I be better off leaving the overly amended area and just starting over in the new area? I would probably still add some amendment to the new area (adding no amendment at all makes me nervous), but I would only add about 20% cotton burr compost. And one last question on amending. The plants in the middle of the bed and scattered around are, I think, some type of onion. I am waiting for them to bloom this year, but then plan on transplanting them in our backyard somewhere. Point being: once I dig the onions up in fall, I plan on amending the rest of the bed before the fall. That was my logic for amending only the planting holes right now. Does this make any difference in terms of whether it's a good idea to amend the planting holes? Thank you, all, for the advice! (I have now been informed that the marestail at the right which had been serving as a focal point (guffaw!) is, in actuality, an invasive weed). :-) This post was edited by fampoula on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 22:53

This is a bad time for planting hydrangeas as the environment is quite hot and there is little humidity. As a result of heat stress and transplant shock, some leaves may yellow out. Usually old leaves react this way. Leaves in too much sun can also turn yellow but in this case, only leaves in direct contact with the sun would be turning ALL yellow and the other leaves would remain dark green. Doubt this is you though since paniculatas like VS can handle full sun and your sun is not as intense as it is here; but keep an eye on that so you know what to do (temporarily give them shade somehow). Leaves that turn yellowish (but the leaf veins remain dark green) can also have a condition called iron chlorosis. Leaves can also display a wilted look when the plant looses moisture thru the leaves faster than the roots can absorb it. Very common in the summer with new shrubs. Wilting episodes should be checked to make sure the soil is not dry or almost dry. But most of the time, they will recover on their own by the next morning. These episodes will occur on the first few summers. Once the plant becomes established in your garden, it will develop a root system capable of overcoming a large number of these wilting episodes but, eh, one gets them when temps are plain ole hot. I am in the 100s now so I see these problems happenning now. You can help the shrubs by maintaining the area well mulched (3-4" of mulch up to the drip line or further) and by monitoring the soil moisture several times a week until low Fall temperatures arrive. The finger method can help you determine when to water so you do not overdo it by watering twice every day: give them 1 gallon of water per plant when a finger inserted into the soil to a depth of 4" feels dry or almost dry. Test the area near the base trunk, ie, where the roots are & cover the little hole again when done. When watering, it is best to water outwards starting from the area where the rootball is. Water only the soil and do it early in the morning. At this very moment, the roots are located in the area where your potting mix resides and roots have not ventured yet "outside", into the garden soil. Do moisten that edge between the potting mix and the garden soil but it is critical not to forget about the root ball. If it dries out, it will repel water and be hard to get it to absorb water again. Check mulch levels twice a year or whatever works for you as mulch will help you reduce waterings and conserve moisture, as well as protect the roots from the heat. There is no need to add fertilizers this year as most newly purchased plants will have those round fertilizer pellets in the potting mix. Besides, we are late in the growing season. You want to fertilize from Spring thru July only so the plant will go dormant in the Fall and not stay in growth mode thru Fall or winter. Next Spring, you can add a 1/2 cup to 1 cup of organic mulch or cottonseed meal. Hydrangeas are not big eaters like roses, so this will suffice for the year. If you want to, add "weak" fertilizers like coffee grounds, liquid seaweed or liquid fish but stop all fertilizers by July. Liquid iron is an amendment added to prevent iron chlorosis. This is a temporary condition where the shrub cannot absorb iron from the soil and is common in alkaline soils. If your soil is acidic, you do not need it. If your soil is alkaline, your hydrangea will benefit from regular doses of amendments that will add this iron (amendments like liquid iron products) or other granular products like aluminum sulfate, ammoniun sulfate, iron sulfate, green sand, garden Sulphur, etc. I amend once in Spring and again in late Summer or early Fall if the leaves display a light green to yellow color (but the leaf veins remain dark green). A neighbor or a nearby plant nursery can give you an idea of how alkaline or acidic soils are in your area. If you want to be proactive, you can also buy soil testing kits for soil pH, although they may be hard to find in some places at the end of the growing season. Enjoy your VSs! Luis This post was edited by luis_pr on Thu, Jul 24, 14 at 5:13

Looks like they are suffering from transplant shock. Very common on newly planted shrubs and expected when you plant new ones in the middle of the summer. If they get too much sunlight, the leaves in direct contact with the sun will turn all yellow, including the leaf veins. So, these guys look like went from a comfortable shady spot at Lowes to a more sunny and hot spot in your garden. Going forward, I suggest you transition them slowly into sunny areas: say, buy them in the summer, keep them in bright shade until summer temps have come down and plant them in the Fall. When the big leaves on these guys started to loose moisture faster than the roots could absorb water, the leaves wilted. As this condition got more intense by not being used to the hot outside, the leaves dried out from the edges inwards and some sections now look brown. The wilted leaves should normally recover on their own if you keep the soil moist. Usually they recover either by nighttime or by the next morning. If they have not recovered then test the soil to see if it needs water. But keep a close eye on the soil moisture levels in the middle of the summer and water as often as needed. Do not forget that pots get hot when hit by either morning or afternoon summer sun. Completely dried out leaves can be cut off but I would leave the partially browned out ones. If it bugs you, you can squish the brown out parts so they are not so obvious. Dried out leaves will not recover but the shrub sometimes generates new ones either now, in the Fall or as late as Spring 2016. Any location where they get morning sun until 11am or so (approximately) is probably ok. Locations that get some sun in the afternoon might work too but you have to "test" them to see and mid-July was probably a jolt to them. In the northern states, they can get full sun but, I still would not "introduce to the outside" in the middle of the summer. :o) I had one hydrangea that lost all leaves due to watering issue (not potted but planted in the ground). This happened near the end of the growing season. I maintained the soil moist and well mulched. It looked worse than yours. While it did not produce new leaves that season, the roots were fine and made it leaf out in the Spring like nothing had happened. Enjoy, the Mini Penny Hydrangeas. I almost got some myself at another store.