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hydrangeas in deep shade?

3 years ago

Hi - I have a fence in pretty much full shade. I was wondering if a climbing hydrangea, or a schizophragma hydrangeoides, would tolerate such a situation, and bloom? Also, I have a hydrangea Invincibelle Spirit that blooms beautifully in complete shade. Does anybody know if Invincibelle Ruby would do as well in the same conditions? Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice on either question!

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Comments (3)

luis_pr
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
It depends. Obviously, the more sun they get, the more blooms they can produce. A lot of direct and indirect sunlight will also help smooth hydrangeas and paniculata blooms turn from lime green to white. The more sun they get, the faster they change from lime green to white.

I have had both in full but very bright shade locations. They bloom fine and the lime green blooms turn white after several weeks. But on years with lots of cloudy/rainy weather caused by El Nino Events, they have had difficulty. In one year in particular, the smooth hydrangea (Annabelle) and the paniculata (Little Lime) started blooming lime green as usual but the lime green blooms never turned white... and remained green until November, when they finally turned brown. But it wasn't a problem for me as I like the lime green blooms. ;o))
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Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks so much for your comments! I think I'll go ahead and try it. If they are really unhappy, I can always move them!
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While the shade has kept any of them in this area from blooming, I think you're right that dryness is what is killing them off. For some reason the previous owner planted two willows on this lakefront slope - under the canopy of a giant American elm and a giant maple. Also a trio of crabapple trees that will never bloom. I will eliminate the willows (i am finding that small trees of any variety make great Christmas trees when you string them with lights), but don't know about the crabs. Will move the surviving hydrangeas at the end of summer. How big is the property? Six acres, tended by two rapidly aging city types learning on the job. This website has been a godsend for me. Friend and advisor. It's an excuse to put down the shovel and yak over the fence.
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Really is your choice. I sometimes cut nearly spent stems to dry indoors. Most of the time I just leave them in place overwinter until I do a spring clean up. I kind of like the way they look in winter - flowers (although dry) when not much of anything else is flowering. If you prefer to do a clean up in fall and like things nice and tidy over winter or you have to apply winter protection, you can remove them. Just cut back the spent flower stem to the next set of buds below the flowerhead. This is just deadheading and won't affect next year's flowering.
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No need to dig up the plant and then plant it deeper.....too much root disruption at this time of year! And it is not a concern for plants to be planted high or with the rootball slightly above grade. In fact, that is far preferable than planting them too deeply. You can add some soil to the area to mound up to the top of the rootball. But I'd just use a good mulch for this purpose. Less likely to wash away than just soil, will protect the exposed roots from drying out and add some nutrients as it breaks down and just generally help the soil surrounding the shrub to retain moisture.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years ago
You could certainly try it with the arborescens but I wouldn't like to experiment with the climbers. First, it takes a number of years of establishment for them to start flowering to begin with. And moving them is a much bigger job than moving a shrub and will set them back to the beginning afa flowering is concerned.

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