Hydrangeas in Texas Zone 8b

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Hello everyone. So I really like Hydrangeas, but I also heard that they fry like kindle in Texas heat. So I was wondering something...with the intensity of the sun in Texas (especially in summertime!) would keeping the hydrangeas in a full-shade (or morning sun for 2 hours, shade the rest of the day) location allow hydrangeas to flower?

The way I figure it is that shaded areas still have solar energy penetrating to the ground, and with the intensity of the sun in Texas a full-shade area in summertime is equivalent (not exactly, but it's an estimate) to the sunlight in a northern state's full sunlight (okay, maybe dappled sunlight). Is my estimation correct? Or close? Or would a full-shade location in blazing Texas sunlight not be sufficient for flowering?

And when I say "flowering", I mean actually flowering at least close to normal levels of flowering, not a flower here and there due to insufficient solar energy. It won't be worth the trouble if I won't get a decent amount of flowers. Thanks in advance.

Featured Answer

luis_pr

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

Hydrangeas in Texas can be located in a variety of locations: dappled sun, morning sun or even in “bright shade”. Obviously, the more sun that they get, the more they bloom. Those that get morning sun should not receive any afternoon or evening sun. Look for morning-sun only locations that get shade starting around 11am or so. And I mean 11am in the summer time. Since our temperatures tend to reach into the 90s starting in May and remain in the 100s until September-ish, consider that span of time as “the summer time”. You do not have to give them that much sun of course; 1-2 hours of morning sun is fine too.

The most sun tolerant hydrangeas are the paniculatas. You can put them in full sun in most places of the country but, the leaves suffer here and leaves/bush will not look good by the end of the growing season. So, if you can find a way to give them afternoon shade, I am sure the shrubs will appreciate it. While I have not observed lack of blooms issues in bright shade, Paniculata Little Lime blooms have failed to change their color.... from lime green to white in some years. Little Quickfire blooms have not done that but, its location in the garden gave it slightly more sun. Potted Vanilla Strawberry and Strawberry Sundae paniculatas bloomed fine but performed miserably because they tend to start blooming while we are in the 100s (who wants to bloom then?). As a result, the VS/SS blooms would open white and go from white to brown instead of white-pink-pretty magenta-magenta w/greens&pinks-brown.

Mopheads, lacecaps and serratas can be placed in dappled sun, morning sun only or bright shade locations that are not windy; they will bloom fine there. If placed in morning sun, they should get shade by 11am or earlier. The leaves and blooms may be sensitive to winds, high temperatures and sun. Put them in dense shade and then they will not bloom as much. If unsure, leave them in the pot in which you bought them and test the pot in various locations. Testing means see how well they bloom and also see how well the leaves/blooms do. Default colors for these types of hydrangeas is white; shades of pink if one lives away from East Texas and shades of purple/blue if one lives close to or in East Texas.

Smooth hydrangea, aka Annabelle-type hydrangeas, can be planted in dappled sun or morning sun only. On bright shade, I had good bloomage but… their blooms started green and stayed green throughout the growing season. The blooms should have turned white after a few weeks. These hydrangeas are very sensitive to soil moisture issues. I had one that died during winter.

Oakleaf hydrangeas are the most drought resistant once they become established and once their root system has grown a bit. They can also be grown in dappled sun, morning only sun only or in bright shade. These hydrangeas produce spectacular Fall foliage but, the leaves require several hours of sun to get good reds, purples, oranges. If located in bright shade, you may still get some color change but not as nice as when they get more sun.

At other times of the year, when the sun is weaker here, all hydrangeas could be placed in full sun temporarily. Hydrangeas grown in pots, for example, can get full sun in early-mid Spring (before temps hit 85F), mid-late Fall (once temps stay below 85F) and during winter of course as most of them loose all of their leaves. One exception is oakleaf hydrangeas, which may keep their leaves in some years and act as evergreen shrubs sometimes.If they are doing this for me in the DFW Metroplex, it is possible you may experience this as well.

Once temperatures reach 85F regularly (in mid-late April or in May) then the leaves & blooms are more soil moisture sensitive so water them more then and try to keep the soil as evenly moist as possible.

Lilacs can be grown here too. Our soils are alkaline, which they like. But their leaves get burned to a crisp in full sun. I lost my first one when I planted in full sun. You can plant them a few feet away and under the eastern edge of the canopy of Crape Myrtles/etc though. I prefer growing the lilac rebloomers like Bloomerang, Josee, Palibin and Superba but the Descanso hybrids (lilacs) do best here.

Does that help you, Superteeth?

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