Re: Various hydrangea questions

Nancy,

I'll always bite on a hydrangea question:-)

Re: overwintering.  Yes, you can do this.  I regularly overwinter 2
in pots in my greenhouse that used to be a plastic leanto over my
garage door.  The hydrangeas were always crammed in the back under
other stuff because they were dormant - literally...sometimes has
pots two and three deep in that garage / lean-to..

Problem isn't really temps of freezing or just below, but really cold
temps and fluctuating temps that entice them to start growth and then
bite.  I am sure the various species / cvs have various temperatures
below which flower buds are damaged, but can't quote them...most
plants have a 'not to exceed' min. temp. they can tolerate.  Flower
buds are least hardy, then leaf buds.   Of course, in pots they don't
want to go below freezing, not because of the buds, but because of
the roots, which, typically, have the least cold resistance of any
part of a plant.

Leave them outside until temperatures are just at the freezing mark
pretty consistently.  They should have either dropped most of their
leaves or the leaves will have yellowed off.

Do NOT fertilize prior to trying to get a plant to go dormant.  Also,
keeping them a tad on the dry side will encourage dormancy.  You want
them to go dormant.  When they are dormant, they really don't need
much light at all, but they do need temps to stay no more than 40F or
they will break dormancy.  Anything from like 33F to 40F is fine.

Water only enough to keep the soil in the pots from becoming really
dry.  You do not want soggy soil on dormant plants in pots.

They will break dormancy before you are able to put them outside in
the spring - for me, they all start coming to life in mid Feb.

At that point, they will need as much light as you can muster - maybe
set up a lamp or something and keep it on 24 hours.  They do not want
warmer temperatures - the cooler you can keep them - above freezing -
the better.

You will need to harden them off, just like any other indoor plant,
before you can put them out in the garden next year.

Once you are about ready to put them outside, then you can start
feeding.  Once they leaf out, you will need to water more or they
will droop.

Re: colors - can't help you here as I rather enjoy the mixtures I get
and have never tried for a specific color.  Have a strong feeling
that more than simply soil acidity or alkalinity is at play here,
from posts I've read about flower colors in other plants on other
lists.  Could be many factors, including the source of the clone...as
in parentage.

Re: cutting for vases.  You have to wait to cut hydrangea flowers
until they are mature or they will droop on you pretty fast.  This is
the stage just before they start to go over.  At this point, they
make great cut flowers and, at this point, they can be dried easily
by cutting them and placing them in a container with about a half
inch of water in it and just letting the whole thing go dry
naturally....in a week or two, you've got dried material.  If you try
to dry them too soon, they will also droop.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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> From: Nancy Stedman <stedman@INTERPORT.NET>
> Date: Monday, July 03, 2000 11:52 AM
>
> I thought this might be the moment to raise some questions about
hydrangeas
> since we're already on this topic:
> --Has anyone ever successfully overwintered hydrangeas in a
basement/garage?
> I have two pots that I'd like to try to keep inside since my other
> hydrangeas, even those I wrap in burlap, often get a lot of winter
kill. My
> garage gets down to about 35-40 degrees and has a small amount of
light
> (enough to start an uncovered amaryllis bulb growing when I didn't
want it
> to). Would I put the pots inside after the leaves fell off? Water
once a
> week? Add organic fertilizer before I bring them indoors?
> --The color issue really has me stymied. I intended to have a dark
red and a
> deep blue shrub but my 'Alpengluhen', which is supposed to be red
even in
> acid soil, is hot pink, and my 'Blue Prince' is lavender. I have
acid soil,
> probably around 6, and my attempts at adding lime around the
'Aplengluhen'
> for the last three years have had absolutely no effect. The 'Blue
Prince'
> came with lavender flowers and I have never tried to acidify the
soil
> because it's acid enough as it is. This is the plant's second year
> here--will it get darker as the roots extend into the soil here?
> --I had always thought that hydrangeas made great cut flowers but
my
> 'Annabelle' blooms drooped within a couple of days. Are you
supposed to dry
> the flowers first?
> Thanks in advance,
> Nancy S. (NYC, zone 6)
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