Hydrangaes
 

Anyone elses Hydrangaes all die back this year?

Had to spend about 3 hours cutting back 6 of them over the last few days. Also lost some ornamental grass and a butterfly bush.

All cut back, 13, about about 5 weeks ago and now 3 ft high and growing however the blooms will not come out.
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The butterfly bush went bye bye so I cut it down to allow the new stock room to grow. The lavender #^&#^&#^&#^& the bed.
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Aren't you supposed to cut them back by 2/3 every fall?

Our hydrangeas are fine.
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The hydrangea get pruned in the early spring based on the age, length and buds of each stick . I don't know if the cuttings are 2/3 but the cut sticks range from 1 to 3 ft. The severe dry cold winter required a lower cut because the sticks dried out. I've done these extreme cuttings in the past and the hydrangeas end up growing out to about 6 ft in diameter (mega huge).
The butterfly doesn't really get pruned but just enough to prevent getting stuck in the face when walking by.
The lavender doesn't get pruned aside from clipping the flowers but this winter did them in.
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I usually cut the butterfly bush pretty severely. Some of the hydrangeas were were about 6 ". I have a few of the hydrangea variety that blooms on new wood so I'll have some bloom this year.
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I was talking about the butterfly bush. I hack mine way back. The hydrangeas depend on how big they are but reducing them by half is normal.
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Throughout the Narragansett area (including my yard) I'm seeing hydrangea that are mostly sticks with lush growth at the base. As Victor pointed out, we probably lost most of this season's bloom. My lavender is trying to stage a comeback. My Leland cypresses,which can be sensitive to cold, are doing well despite a little winter kill on some branch tips, the newest and most tender growth.

But if you don't have the newer variety that blooms on this year's growth, you may not have flowers.

Don't know. I cut them back in the fall and they flower just fine...

-spence

Cut our hydrangea way back last winter so capesams could fit to shingle our castle.
Plenty of green ,the blooms will follow sooner or latter

I'll have to do some research into that.

NPR said this was going to be a really bad year for them

They did take a hit for sure this year but the new growth has been vigorous so far. Just cut off the dead stems, although first thing in spring would have been better. You can just cut down stem till you hit green most every spring. I too cut back my butterfly bush too. I always do when they get too big for their spot or leggy. You need to prune stuff it is good for the plant. If you want good flowers on woody plants you can dead head the flowers after they bloom. I pretty much have every flowering shrub you can have and that would take many hours so I don't bother to do it that much but it would be advantageous to do so if you only have a few flowering shrubs.

All right, we bought hydrangeas about ten years ago, eight of them, and we have not had a flower on any of them, ever. Why?
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My Mother lost 3 Roses, 1 Fig tree (chopped down by 90% and showing very little growth not sure it is going to make it), 1 baby Red Maple Tree all from the harsh winter. My neighbor lost her Fig trees that are years old.

My oak leaf hydrangeas came thru ok I noticed today they are about to bloom. Must be hardier.
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We had a huge butterfly bush that %^%$# the bed. I had cut it back but it never sprouted this spring.

Ours was late but it's moving nicely along now.

-spence

Not a single bloom on any hydrangeas. They have grown well, lush and leafy......

I cut two all the way to 3' 4" from the ground they are growing well & will flower later .
two I didn,t cut back .until this weekend when there was too much dead branches .......both are now flowering

Mine were pretty beat I let the dead stuff stick around awhile then yanked once new growth appeared. No flowering as of yet.
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Only one bloom on mine. Mine dried up to withered sticks over the winter so I cut it back considerably and that's probably why. Any pieces that I missed when I pruned it back haven't grown any new growth so my hunch was right and it needed to be cut way back. Next season should result in a healthy hydrangea again.
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I did get a few blooms on the variety that blooms on new wood but still much less that prior years. The other variety has nothing.

Same here, our 3 hydrangeas are bushy as heck, and green but not a single bloom.
The garden, however is doing the best we have ever had it.

what is the best size hydrangea to purchase to install in the yarden and when? I'm looking to pull all the plantings out of my front of the house this fall.

If you know someone that has strong mature plants that you like ask for a clipping.
Splice the end of the stick, insert Pebble, plant water, water, water and that plant will immediately take root. In the past I would just bury the stick then it would die off until the following season when new growth sprouts from the ground. If you take my suggestion with the split stick you would give the plant about a two year head start.
Note The more sticks the better.
I've seen people buy those small hydrangeas in stores and they seem to remain on the smallish side years after.
So drive by houses and if you see a large nice hydrangea ask the owner for some sticks.
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I've grabbed the small ones from church at Easter time that they are going to throw out and put them in the ground. The next year they would grow to maybe waist height with no flowers. The 2nd year they would grow normal height with full blooms. I did that a bunch of times and replanted them in a park I take care of. Your prob. going to have some problems finding them in the fall to transplant.

This guy always has good green thumb info - http://www.boston.com/mt/lifestyle/h...gea_bloom.html
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I never do anything to them and each yr they look great,,, not this yr though,, few blooms down low nutton up top :confused:

The lawns another story :wall: