This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: [SG] What about hydrangeas?

---Marge Talt <mtalt@CLARK.NET> wrote:

> Hydrangea macrophylla spp. (bigleaf Hydrangeas) all bloom on old wood.
> These are the hortensias (mop heads) and lace caps that you mostly
think of
> when you think 'Hydrangea'...flowers in blue or shades of pink to
purple
> depending on variety and soil pH.

Mine has the classic hydrangea look, in blue.

> So, in order to know when to prune, you have to know what species
you've
> got, or failing that kind of ID, you have to observe closely and see
if
> bigger, fatter buds appear along the stems in late summer and then
see if
> those buds make the flowers the next year.  If that's the case, you've
> likely got one that blooms on old wood.

Hmmm... I don't know what species I have (inherited plant from
previous owner of house). You mean they bloom ALONG the whole stem
instead of just at the tip? I guess I must not have observed it very
closely, but I thought they form flowers at the top of each vertical
stem branch, but not along the length of the stem... I will try to
take a closer look.

> If you pruned hard in late winter/early spring and got bloom this
year,
> yours blooms on new wood.  If, however, you only pruned lightly and
left
> most of the stems, yours could be an old wood bloomer and you were
lucky
> enough to leave flower buds when you pruned.

I guess I didn't prune very hard, I just cut off all the dead flower
heads from the previous year without really reducing the size of the
plant. Perhaps I was just lucky...

> As to the second flush of bloom....I simply dunno.  None of mine
have ever
> done this for me - wouldn't mind if they did :-)  Wonder if it has
anything
> to do with the fact that you're in a mild climate area?  Anybody else

I'm not complaining either! :-) Just thought it was strange. Made me
wonder if there is something I could do to encourage this behavior
more. There are just a few new flower heads, definitely not a full
flush of bloom. It certainly could be related to my climate area (zone
9), especially because of the imfamous El Nino effects.

> Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland

Thanks, Marge, for your help. I will try to see if I see buds on my
existing stems. And at least if I ever acquire a new plant, I'll know
what to get from your descriptions of the different species!

Are you along the Chesapeake Bay or Atlantic coast of Maryland? My
family lives in Potomac, MD, just northwest of D.C., and I didn't
think they were in zone 7...

And to Clyde: My hydrangeas grow next to the house between a wall and
the AC compressor unit. They are definitely in mostly if not full
shade. Actually I didn't care for them either when I first got the
house and saw them in the garden. But after seeing their show this
spring, I'm a definite convert! They made great cut flowers for
indoors that lasted quite a while, too.

--nancy acton
==
Nancy Acton  (madoka@yahoo.com)
Northern CA, USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 16


_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index