Re: [SG] Hydrangeas

Dunno if I missed a reply to this that answered all queries, in case
not...FWIW

If you can get 'Mariesii variegata' to bloom, you deserve a gold medal.
I've had this for several years and the only bloom I've ever seen was a
wimpy thing on one in a pot carried over winter in the greenhouse.  Both
outdoor plants die to the ground each winter, no matter what I do for them.
 Nice foliage plants once they start to regrow from the roots....IMO, your
dried up looking buds are goners and probably the stem they are sitting
on....but, I may be wrong and your plant may turn out to be much more
robust than mine and cover itself in glorious bloom.  If so, I don't want
to know as I will turn deep green from jealousy:-)

Flower buds are generally fatter, but, what I do is wait for bud break and
then go in and prune deadwood back to the first pair of live buds - and, of
course, remove all totally dead wood.  Probably you are seeing flower buds
in the center of your whorl of leaves...time will tell.  My H. macrophyllas
generally come through normal winters OK; what does the flowers in are late
spring frosts once the buds have started to think about life again.  As
they say, "April is the cruelest month" and that's when those late frosts
put paid to blooms on early risers and tender things.  If you haven't had
one, then you are likely to see flowers, esp. if your plants were protected
as you have done.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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> From: Nancy Stedman <stedman@INTERPORT.NET>
> Date: Saturday, April 24, 1999 8:03 PM
>
> Hi. I now know that I can grow Hydrangea arborescens with no trouble
because
> it blooms on new wood and I don't have to worry about winter damage to
the
> flower buds. But before I learned this I planted two macrophylla
> cultivars--the highly rated 'Alpengluhen' and 'Mariesii variegata'. Last
> summer they produced few to no flowers. This winter I surrounded them
with
> burlap in an attempt to protect the flower buds from wind damage. Now
that
> it's warm again (more or less) I'm not sure if I succeeded in helping the
> plants. What do the new flower buds look like? The 'Alpengluhen' has
several
> branches ending in a whorl of leaves with something growing in the
> center--are these flower buds or just leaves? The 'Mariesii' has a bunch
of
> dried up buds at the end of the branches--are these goners or nascent
> blooms? Thanks for any info.
> Nancy S. in NYC (zone 6B)
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