How does Firelight hydrangea do in Zone 3b/4a?
Comments (19)
luis_pr
last yearRelated Discussions
My Backyard planting experience (so far) - Zone 4a/b Quebec, Cana
Comments (62)Hi everyone! Regardeng BLACKBERRIES, we, on the opposie side of the pool, have the same problems of OVERWINTERING the canes and the flower buds. Admittedly I yet have no own experience as I got interested in blackberries only this fall when discovered the existance of the new thornles and prolific varieties. So I read all that was worth reading in the Russian and US internet, especially the rather high-profile specialised forums of our blackberry enthusiasts.. I discovered that throughout Russia and Kazakhstan which both have areas with very serious frosts blackberry growing in those is nevertheless quite successful. Maybe someone here would benefit from their experience same as e.g. you grow plums of Russian origin such as ptitsin and fofanoff. Apparently Blackberries can bring huge yealds in climates with very low winter temps, even downing to -40C for rather ptolonged periods. The TECHNIQUE below allows overwintering without much problem. Plus some easy principles to follow. 1. All blackberries need to be laid down and covered for the winter, preferably after the first frost when the land is frozen. To ensure that this task is easy and hassle free: 2. Choose thornless varieties only. Those with thorns are said to be hell to lay and cover. 3. In early summer watch for the new canes (primocanes) to emerge. As soon as a shoot reaches 15-20cm carefully bend it 90 degrees and secure with a metal peg. When the cane grows another 40-60cm, secure it parallel to the ground with yet another peg. After it reaches 1 m let it grow as it will but better tie to the lowest string of the trellis Which gets them out of the way. Do not tip the ends as this would increase the leaf mass. Do the bending for all the emerging primocanes. 4. In autumn at the time of first frosts when all the fruiting canes have long been cut down lay the primocanes in lines stretched along one side of the trellis. Peg them to the ground, cover with two layers of 60g/m2 thick white non-woven fabric and secure all sides to the ground with no holes. This is said to help greatly even if serious frosts come before the snow. In milder and wetter climates they also put a plastic film layer on top of the fabric, leaving however the end bits open so there is always air circulation. The advice here is to experiment as all natural circumstaces differ. 5. Take off the cover layers gradually, and completely only after all danger of frost is over. By then the canes are likely to bear some yourg leaves and side shoots, but this is ok. Raise them carefully as the canes of come varieties are brittle, and tie to the trellis. 5. Winer frosts may not be a problem for blackberries, but summers need to be warm or hot. The shorter and milder/cooler the summers, the earlier fruiting varieties should be chosen. 6. Floricane varieties like PA Freedom in cooler and shorter summer climates may very sucessfully fruit if treated in the same way as other primocanes, i.e. as above, in a two-year culture. They would be one of the earliest to perform. If you have any questions do feel free to write me, I will try to help with more information. cathpetro at gmail dot com....See MoreMy Backyard planting experience (Part 2) - Zone 4a/b Quebec, Canada
Comments (55)Mat, yeah I have 2018 and 2019 to write up. I have all my notes. Just have to find time. I checked out Pepiniere casse noisette website. They do not list their rootstocks anywhere that I can find. What rootstocks are your pears, peaches, apricots on? Honestly, a lot of what they are selling, at least in apricots, peach, nectarines seem to me to be VERY marginal for their climate. In many case they mention useful for growing in pots but if that is the case how are they propagating for sale? I don't want to disparage them without information but my impression is they might be reselling . You absolutely need to be buying based upon root-stock. For apples I am not only buying on Bud118 as it has best cold hardiness and is vigorus for our short seasons - Bud9 is just too slow. Train and prune to keep the size you want. Pears on OHxF87 or 97 and prune/train. I have found PAW-PAWs to be marginal in 4b - still 3' tall after 5+ years. Blueberries don't like my soil so Haskasps and Currants are much better. You have better options than Indigo Gem, Aurora is good though. Pink Lemonade is like a zone 5/6 plant, I see little chance of it surviving. Both Whiffletree and vigneschezsoi are good options. Be aware that a 1-2 year old bare root grape vine will bear fruit 1-2 years faster than the same year rooted cuttings you will get from vigneschezsoi. If you are only buying a couple might want to spend a couple extra $$ to get fruit a whole year or 2 earlier. Somerset and Trolhaugen are good. Had a couple Brianna this year, not enough to really say. Get Bluebell as well. I suggest 10-15' between vines. Can go closer but I am of the hack back 90% every year and then let grow. Trollhaugen can put out 12-15' of growth in 1 year alone - plant closer and you have to keep on top of canopy thinning to avoid overgrowth. Apples and pears will benefit from bagging with ziplocs. Grapes I bag with Organza bags when starting to turn color. So far I am loosing 99% of stone fruit (plums) to plum curlico and the rest to birds/racoons (can't bag plums - they rot). All peaches die. Trying apricots but no fruit yet. Don't get too caught up on types of fruit. Buy something disease resistant on a hardy, vigorus rootstock then topwork as you get enough branch structure. You will then be able to test fruit to see what you like or not within 3 years of grafting. My crabapple is now up to 65+ different apples grafted to it....See MoreFire light Hydrangeas review
Comments (49)GHo/Lovemy. Circling back on this thread..... I did my * 2022* pruning on the youngest LL today. The interior canopy has the strongest branching / new wood comes really strong and will hold the blooms all season vert. On some of the younger branching, it rained the other day and it's raining today. I surveyed what stems I will want for next year to continue forming the framework *which will get cut down some in spring*, and I removed the beautiful bloom off of it. The blooms filled up 1/3 of the garbage can. Siggghhh I did not do this in former years and let Dwarnisim choose it's course. What happens IME is stems stay weighed down and don't recover. They remain either in the funky downward curve (either curve down or it does this downward curve and then a U turn back up) instead of being nice straight and vert. I do this as once the bloom is cut, instead of the stem being weighted down and not recovering later in the season, the stem reverts back vert. Also, it's also -pre mitigation- should that stem snap later in the season with the continued rains in fall and the heavy bloom I kinda consider this my early -2022- pruning/shaping strategy. Don't do it on everything, just things I want to aid in shaping....See MoreOld wood vs New wood for a few hydrangeas I just bought
Comments (8)Timing of the flowering will depend heavily on location. In luis' very southerly location hydrangeas may well bloom in spring but further north, they won't start blooming until later into the summer. In my area - pretty far north - the only hydrangeas blooming before the end of June are those purchased already in bloom from nurseries or greenhouses!! And with a later overall boom, it is tricky to tell old wood flowers from those produced on new wood. There is no lapse between the two but rebloomers or those that flower on new wood as well will continue to produce flower buds (broccoli) late into the season, often continuing to bud and flower as late as October. Two extremes of location - two very different bloom cycles :-) Most others wll fall somwhere in between these two....See Moreostrich
last year
prairie_northrose (3b north of Calgary AB, Canada)
last yearA great year for hydrangeas here, the heat has really encouraged them to flower early.
Firelight started blooming just after Quickfire. It’s about as tall as the bucket behind it. A photo from today. From left to right - Firelight, Phantom, Quickfire, Limelight, Little Lamb, and another Limelight.
bellarosa
last yearostrich
12 months ago
FrozeBudd_z3/4
12 months agolast modified: 12 months agoOstrich, 'Little Lamb' remains at about 4.5 ft and 'Firelight' about 3.5 ft tall. I'll take photos of the latter when the blooms develop a bit more.
'Little Lamb' as of the other day. Yes, my lawn was that browned out, we're only now receiving the FIRST soaking rain of the summer, all other rains were a mere 1/4 inch or less, a terribly DRY growing season!
ostrich thanked FrozeBudd_z3/4pennlake
12 months agoprairie_northrose (3b north of Calgary AB, Canada)
12 months agolast modified: 12 months agoThat’s too bad Little Lamb is discontinued by PW. Hopefully it gets distributed elsewhere. I like the large bloom heads with a multitude of smaller sized dainty flowers.
Firelight has been colouring up nicely. It’s brighter than Quickfire. It is still about the height of a bucket for me. Here it is on the far left:
And bucket for size comparison of Firelight:
Annabelle is doing well this year too, beside hosta Winter Snow:
ostrich thanked prairie_northrose (3b north of Calgary AB, Canada)ostrich
11 months agoostrich
11 months agoprairie_northrose (3b north of Calgary AB, Canada)
11 months agoostrich thanked prairie_northrose (3b north of Calgary AB, Canada)FrozeBudd_z3/4
11 months agolast modified: 11 months agoprairie_northrose (3b north of Calgary AB, Canada)
11 months agoFrozeBudd, yes we had a rough season a couple of years ago, I think it was due to a wet August where the plants were in a lush growing green phase, then hit by sudden prolonged freezing temps. Leaves were frozen green everywhere, the hydrangeas never got to flowering. The following year there was significant dieback, I think they didn’t have time to harden off. Even my Snow Pavement rugosa rose died back to nearly ground level.
That is amazing you’ve had paniculata hydrangeas hardy to the tips before. Usually about 2/3 or more of the canes die off for me, to about the snow line. Hopefully yours will return to their glory. I’ve noticed peat moss deteriorating over a few years, I may need to refresh my beds soon.
Though the heat has really encouraged everything to flower early. Here is Firelight today, the colour is intense!
Also not hydrangea related but here is some rudbeckia Autumn Colors which I was originally inspired by you to plant again. Nice to have some fall colour with these and the hydrangeas.
FrozeBudd_z3/4
11 months agolast modified: 11 months agoPNR, I'm really liking your compact growing hydrangeas, they look great! Your 'Firelight' is nicely colored up, mine is now only getting speckled with pink and is still throwing all sorts of new blooms, gonna get nipped by frost while still actively growing! It had been reluctant to kick into gear over the last few years and been boosting it with fertilizer, maybe a bit too much this spring though!
Ahhh, yes, rudbeckia, never can go wrong with them!
"Firelight'
FrozeBudd_z3/4