Re: hydrangeas

I agree, Nancy.  Siting marginal plants next to a house foundation if
they are exposed to any winter sun - can do a lot of damage.  If they
get hit by sun during freezing temperatures, the sun can induce them
to lose their antifreeze and they can't re-manufacture it fast enough
to fight freezing temps when the sun goes down.

Now, using a spot like you put your 'Variegata Mariesii' can often
work because they don't get any sun hits in winter and the proximity
of the house can raise the temperature enough to create a micro
climate that might help a marginally hardy plant pull through the
winter.

Sorry, don't have 'All Summer Beauty'.  But, if you got it from
Bluestone, doubt it is old enough to bloom.  Have many shrubs from
them and all took several years to mature enough to flower.

Doing a search for something entirely different, ran across a most
interesting fact sheet from the University of Vermont Extension
System, entitled "Why Plants Fail to Bloom"; primarily about woody
plants....very good.

http://www.uvm.edu/~pass/perry/oh40.html

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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> From: Nancy Stedman <stedman@RCN.COM>
> Date: Monday, July 17, 2000 1:33 PM
>
> >On this subject--there was a useful article yesterday about
hydrangeas in the
> >Style section of the New York Times. I'm not sure if this section
is
> >distributed beyond the metro NYC area, though the story might be
available
> >on the paper's web site.
> >
> >Also, I've been thinking, Marge, that siting hydrangeas right next
to a
> >house may not be such a smart idea for those in borderline zones.
I lost a
> >lot of flower buds this winter, despite covering everything in
burlap, after
> >the temperature went from something like 70 to 20 in one week, a
change that
> >was probably intensified by the heat of my house. I've noticed
that in my
> >neighborhood the hydrangeas that are not next to houses are much
more
> >floriferous than those that are, presumably because they weren't
as likely
> >to start growing during the brief temperature upswing.
> >
> >I'm wodering, also, if anyone has any eperience with 'All Summer
Beauty',
> which is supposed to bloom on new wood all summer long. I've been
coddling a
> small one I got from Bluestone but it's probably too young to do
any
> blooming this year.
>
> Anyway, here's an irony: I had two H. macrophylla 'Variegata
Mariesii' next
> >to my house that just would not bloom so I decided to treat them
as foliage
> >plants (tall hostas, in a way) and put them in my darkest corner,
which
> >never gets any direct light. So of course now there are a few
lovely deep
> >blue lacecap blooms in my garden where only I would ever look.
> >
> >Nancy S. (NYC, zone 6B)
> >
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