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The old favorite, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’

Sunflower Homes and Equestrian LLC

6 years ago

I live in zone 7 in the Blue Ridge Mountain area. I discovered that I have the old favorite Hydrangea paniculata Grandiflora on my rental property. It is approximately 55 years old. Looks tired on one side but have pruned it and it looked healthier this year. It is now early June and I realize I can root this plant. For you experts....when and how do I make this work. I do know a little about cuttings but this is such a wonderful plant that it is SO SO important to get another one started in case I should loose it. The blooms are beautiful. Will try to bring up a photo of about three years ago. There are some vanilla strawberry in the photo but you will be able to see how large and beautiful the Grandiflora is. Sorry for duplicate.

Featured Answer

Keely Line z8a north texas

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

The layering method is almost fool proof. Not positive it works with this kind, but it should. Bury low hanging branches, still connected to the plant. This you can do now! By the time the weather cools, you should have roots forming on the branches. Snip below the new roots and pot. Easy as that! The drawing has a stake, I don't find it necessary.

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Comments (6)

luis_pr
6 years ago
Now is a good time to get cuttings. Here are some suggestions that I have collected:

Take a cutting from a branch of the hydrangea shrub about 5 to 6 inches long. The cutting will work best if taken from a branch that did not flower this year. Remove th lower leaves of the bottom 2-leaf nodes. Cut the largest leaves down to about 1/2 their size. Dip the cuttings in rooting hormone (optional; may times not needed) and insert into a damp vermiculite or sterile medium. Water the pot well and allow good draining. Make sure the soil is moist, but not soggy (this prevents fungal issues). Cover the cuttings and pot with plastic. Try to keep the plastic from touching the leaves by adding stakes.

Or

Stick them in a sand/peat mix (50/50) and keep them moist. Keep the cuttings out of direct sunlight until they root, which normally should take six or more weeks.
PRO
Sunflower Homes and Equestrian LLC
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks so much. Have seen You Tube illustrations of putting a lot of cuttings in sand or half and half as you suggested. Do you feel an individual pot is best as you suggested. The bush is very large and truly hope to be successful.
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My favorite is Quickfire which has lacier, less dense flowers. I also have Pinky Winky, though mine is branched to the ground, not limbed up as hyed's is. Look at lots of photos of different cultivars of Hydrangea paniculata. They vary quite a bit in bloom size, shape, and density as well as some variation of color, though all have some time as white, creamy, or lime which age to some shade of pink. The plants with heavier panicles may cause the branches to bend over, while other cultivars hold their bloom clusters upright as in hyed's photos above. You also want to consider bloom timing (about a 6 week difference in start time here among all the cultivars) and shrub height and width since they regrow quite rapidly if pruned and so are difficult to keep smaller through pruning.
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I have observed the same thing. All the hydrangea standards at plant nurseries are single trunks, not multiple trunks (think Crape Myrtles). I guess the advantage of multi-trunks may be that if one trunk dies, the shrub remains, you still get foliage/blooms from the rest of the trunks (might look weird aesthetically for a few years). Of course, it would be rare for this problem to happen.
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luis_pr
6 years ago
No, I haven't seen the YT videos but I remember seeing some eons ago. Do you have a link?

Depending on the size of the cuttings, you can put several cuttings on a "larger" but still small pot... but I just prefer not to do that. It always bothers me... it is the thought that all those tiny roots of the multiple plants.... getting commingled and making it hard to separate them.... Hee hee hee! I know, I know... Life is hard, hu? ;o)

Those are some pretty and large blooms by the way! Hope you get to enjoy them every year for years to come!
PRO
Sunflower Homes and Equestrian LLC
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks again. I have been working with cuttings for a year or so. Think each time I attempt, I have about a third success. Love snowballs and found them to be hard to root. Just started some boxwoods and weigela. They look great. I plan to get some hydrangea from the bush this week and just put them in pots. The blooms are outstanding and beautiful.
ophoenix
6 years ago
Hi, here is a video of what I have found to be the easiest way and results in almost 100% success rate in my garden. It is a simplified method. After several years of propagating tip cuttings with rooting solutions and heat mat - I found this works better for the home gardener. Most of the techniques on line are for large nurseries or professional growers. The video was produced for beginners and is around 8 min. but should be easy to follow.

Link to video. http://www.screencast.com/t/V2A0HznqpK

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