Pruning. Due of its naturally dense and compact structure, bobo does not require routine pruning. Before new growth has begun, prune it for shape if you intend to use it as a hedge shrub in the early spring or late winter. To get the required shape, simply trim the branch tips.
How are Bobo hydrangeas maintained?
A stunning dwarf hydrangea that attracts attention is the Bobo Hydrangea. The small, compact shrub bears clusters of white blooms from the summer until the first frost. It is a fantastic addition to any garden with a small amount of area. As the best novelty plant, it was awarded the Gold Floral Metal.
The dwarf kind of hydrangea known as the Bobo Hydrangea maintains a small and compact form. On sturdy support stems that prevent drooping, a profusion of creamy, white flowers are produced in groups. From July to September, flowers are in full bloom. Towards the end of the blossoming season, these blossoms typically take on a rosy pink hue. The Bobo Hydrangea usually stays between 2-3 feet tall and 3–4 feet wide. For Hydrangea enthusiasts who simply lack the space for classic Hydrangeas, this is a terrific shrub.
The Bobo Hydrangea prefers to be planted in well-drained soil with full sun to partial shade. Regardless of soil, pH, climate, or trimming, this plant will blossom. It is recommended to prune in late winter or early spring to retain shape. Apply a gradual release fertilizer in the early spring for the finest flowering outcomes.
Since this shrub blooms on fresh wood, prune in late winter or early spring. After the flowers have finished flowering, pruning can assist promote bushier growth and rejuvenate an older plant.
This shrub pairs well with viburnum, hostas, and ferns. To give the garden a full appearance, plant companions in between your hydrangea at a distance of 3 to 4 feet.
In grow zones 3–8, place this flexible shrub in a location with well-drained soil and full sun to part shade conditions.
Make sure your new plants have the correct environment and location before you plant your Bobo Hydrangea. Hydrangeas grow best in the spring and fall. In the summer, when temperatures are in the mid- to high-80s, avoid planting hydrangeas.
The Bobo Hydrangea enjoys moist, healthy soil and needs full sun to partial shade. Hydrangeas thrive in areas with some shade in hot weather. pH of the soil has little effect on the color of this cultivar. In the summer and the first year after planting, keep the soil wet but not waterlogged. Hydrangeas benefit most from a deep watering once per week in hot weather throughout their whole lifespan. Mulching hydrangeas at a depth of about 3 inches is highly advised. Mulching will reduce your plant’s requirement for watering and protect it from harsh weather. For flowering plants, pick a fertilizer with a delayed release. For optimal results, fertilize once in the spring after the last chance of frost and once again in the early summer. Hydrangeas don’t require pruning, although after they finish blooming, pruning can assist promote bushier growth and rejuvenate an older plant.
Giving your plants the right care is the best defense against illness and pests. The keys to your success are selecting the right place, providing adequate water, and fertilizing. Using neem oil or insecticidal soap, you can naturally treat mites, scale, whiteflies, and aphids. Use pesticides like carbaryl, often known as Sevin, for severe infections. Making sure the planting area has sufficient drainage and refraining from overhead watering will help prevent fungus infection. A fungicide can be used to treat fungal infections. In general, treating fungus after infection is ineffective, so if you’ve had issues with other plants or in a previous year, treat early in the spring as a preventative measure.
The Bobo is ideal for small gardens and cramped settings because it is a dwarf type. When incorporated into a mass or mixed shrub border, this shrub looks fantastic. It works well as a focal point or accent plant. All of the other colors in your landscape look good with the white color. Both dried and fresh flower arrangements benefit greatly from the trimmings. Additionally, it thrives in the patio’s surrounding pots!
How much sun are required by Bobo hydrangeas?
Each plant requires the following conditions to thrive: Full Sun (6+ hours), Part Sun (4-6 hours), and Full Shade (up to 4 hours).
How frequently should I water my Hydrangea Bobo?
In comparison to other hydrangea varieties, the Bobo Hydrangea is much less picky about the soil it is placed in. Rich, well-drained soil with an acidity of 5.8 to 6.2 will be ideal for them.
Soil For Planting Bobo Hydrangeas
Place 2 tablespoons of soil and 1/2 cup of vinegar in a bowl to evaluate the acidity or alkalinity of the soil. The soil is alkaline, or has a high pH, if the mixture fizzes. In a similar manner, you can put 2 tablespoons of soil in another basin and add baking soda and distilled water to it to moisten it. If this mixture bubbles, your soil has an acidic pH.
If required, peat moss or some agricultural sulfur can be added to alkaline soil to make it acidic prior to planting. For this particular kind of hydrangea, mulching is advised. Reduce the amount of watering required by adding three inches of mulch to the soil. This will also help protect the plant from harsh weather conditions.
Watering Bobo Hydrangeas
Only approximately an inch of water each week, whether from rain or intentional watering, is required by bobo hydrangea plants. In the summer and during the plant’s initial growing season, keep the soil damp but not waterlogged. In warmer weather, bobo hydrangeas benefit from a deep watering once per week.
Fertilizer For Bobo Hydrangeas
Rich soil often doesn’t require fertilizer, but if the soil is deficient in nutrients, light fertilization is a good idea. Pick a flowering-specific slow-release fertilizer formula. Be careful not to overfeed the plant with a fertilizer that contains too much nitrogen. In Bobo hydrangeas, too much nitrogen can result in lush leaf growth but few flowers. Early in the spring, soon after the last chance of frost and before the leaves emerge, apply your preferred fertilizer.
Pests Affecting Bobo Hydrangea Plants
The Bobo Hydrangea is vulnerable to pests and disease, just like most other plants. The best defense against this is to provide your plant the proper care. The majority of cases of disease and pests should be avoided by planting it in the right location, supplying water, and fertilizing it. It’s not a perfect solution, of course, but it’s a nice place to start.
Neem oil or insecticidal soap can be used to organically treat mites, scale, whiteflies, and aphids. You can use natural insecticides for more serious infections:
How are Bobo hydrangeas prepared for the winter?
Hydrangeas are delicate plants that require good winter care to ensure that they bloom once more in the upcoming spring, despite their beauty and fragrance. It’s critical that you adequately protect your plants for the hard winter weather since the spring flowers of hydrangeas emerge from the buds from the previous year. If you don’t, your plant will plainly fail to bloom in the spring [source: Heuerman]. Read the simple instructions given below to find out how to get your hydrangea ready for the winter.
- Remove the dead branches by pruning. It’s crucial to only remove the unhealthy branches and leave the good ones; otherwise, you risk pruning the plant’s buds. The plant won’t blossom again in the spring if you do that. The plant’s root is where you’ll find the majority of the dead branches [source: BBC].
- Using wooden stakes, construct a frame around your hydrangea plant. The stakes can be positioned inside the branches of the plant if you reside in a region without much snowfall.
- The frame you constructed should be covered with chicken wire. It should build a cage around the entire plant.
- Mulch, pine needles, or leaves can be placed within the cage. To fully shield the plant from winter conditions, the insulation should be at least 6 inches (15 centimeters) deep. Oak leaves, which don’t settle as quickly as other plants, are seen by some botanists to be the finest for protecting the plant over the winter. Make sure to save the leaves from your oak tree so that you may use them to insulate your hydrangea plant [source: Gertens].
Depending on where you reside, you should get your hydrangea ready for the winter. Make sure it happens after the plant has developed the buds for the following year but before the winter weather has started. Most likely, this will occur in November [source: Gertens].
Why are the flowers on my Bobo hydrangea turning brown?
Nothing ages hydrangeas more quickly than browning blooms, and if you’re starting to see more and more brown blossoms, experienced gardener Melinda Myers advises that you might be doing something incorrectly. Premature brown blossoms are an indication that you should change the way you take care of your plants, she explains. “Plants start to wilt and the flowers turn brown earlier than they should when they are under stress or have been damaged.”
In addition, Myers notes that while some hydrangea blossoms naturally turn brown with time, if newly planted ones begin to lose their color, there’s a risk they’re not getting enough moisture. “Drought stress, excessive fertilizing, or high aluminum sulfate in the soil might cause blooms to turn brown earlier than normal,” the author says. So what should you do if you find a garden full of hydrangea blooms that are starting to brown? When we asked Myers for her opinion, she responded as follows.
I have a Bobo hydrangea; what should I plant in front of it?
Shrubs including boxwood, hollies, yews, mahonia, gardenia, and loropetalum look lovely planted in front of hydrangeas. Early color will come from azalea blossoms. Since the azalea flowers will have faded before your hydrangea blooms, you can choose your preferred blossom color.
During the winter, boxwoods and evergreen azalea species will provide some color. Depending on whether you want a formal or natural-looking landscape, boxwoods can be shaped or left in their natural state. These may also offer some wintertime protection from high winds.
What other plants complement Bobo hydrangea well?
What about plants that might go well with your panicle hydrangea? This image displays an annual planting of scarlet petunias at the base of white panicle hydrangea blossoms. Any flower with a vivid color that can withstand the sun will do. To achieve the same result, you can also plant your favorite shade-loving plant on the hydrangea’s leeward side.
This image shows the Garden GirlsTM Glamour Girl Phlox paniculata’s fragrant blossoms peaking out. This phlox is the ideal partner for the little Hydrangea paniculata Bobo. On sturdy stems that are a deep purple color, large panicles of fiery coral pink flowers blossom. The phlox is very mildew resistant and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. Additionally, it has lovely, vivid green foliage all year long.
Hydrangeas called Bobo flop?
Without including hydrangeas, no discussion of a summer landscape in the Midwest is complete. A hydrangea is, to put it simply, a large-leaved blowsy shrub recognized for its dazzlingly brilliant flowers. I should explain my viewpoint on shrubs in general before I make any comments about hydrangeas. Any shrub that can enhance a landscape is appealing to me. Shrubs seem to work well year after year with very little upkeep. Some medium-sized shrubs, like spirea, not only can withstand being chopped to the ground in the spring, but they also quickly recover and blossom. Other shrubs not only put up with improper trimming, but even thrive under it. New varieties of miniature shrubs, such as dwarf butterfly bushes, are suited to small gardens. Large shrubs might block an unfavorable view. Shrubs live a respectably long time. They don’t ask for much and provide a lot.
They fill the space between the trees above eye level and the low-lying perennials below. The extensive list of maintenance requirements that perennials demand is replaced by a yearly pruning. If your garden is small, be selective in your selections of shrubs because they do take up a lot of space. Both a perennial garden and a group of trees can benefit from hydrangeas. They can make a garden heavier. Greenish white cone-shaped flowers on Lime Light hydrangeas can support a perennial garden. They have a lengthy blooming period. Their twigs stand solidly straight up.
In my zone, the hydrangea Annabelle has been blooming since June. For them, this year has been fantastic. They are standing up very straight and covered in blossoms everywhere I see them. The Annabelles have never really been a favorite of mine. Their propensity to topple over need careful staking well before the developing and flowering stages. What a hassle. Everywhere I see those enormous white blooms this year, they look fantastic. both staked and un staked in the shade and the sun. I believe our frequent and heavy rain has been really beneficial for them.
This garden has three rows of annabelles and two rows of lime lights, so the hydrangea bloom period will be prolonged. An embarrassment of riches in hydrangeas, 5 rows of them. The Annabelles, on the left, begin to bloom in June and gracefully drop over a rugged boulder wall. Late July marks the start of blooming on Limelight hydrangeas’ taller, more vertically rising backstop. A rear terrace is at least 150 feet away from this garden. From a distance, all of that white will be easy to read. A perennial garden with a magnificent white covering of hydrangeas supporting it is not visible in this photograph.
The three rows of Annabelle hydrangeas were planted directly behind this rock wall. Their propensity to sag will make this wall more pliable. They will offer the perennials in front of the wall a lovely and welcoming backdrop. When they were first planted, the Limelights at the back were undetectable. However, they will add another, taller layer of white to the perennial garden by the following year.
Dry soil is not good for hydrangeas. There is a dire need for water for these Annabelles. They might bloom, but if they don’t receive frequent irrigation, the blossoms will burn. Get the hose out and water the interior of your hydrangeas if the leaves are turning yellow and falling off.
I also cultivate Bobo, the shortest member of the Limelight species, and Little Lime hydrangeas, which reach heights of 4-5 feet. They are the ideal height for a small garden at 30 inches. or for a low-maintenance foreground garden. They are a fantastic option for situations in the landscape when a short, wide plant is required. Like a duck to water, this hydrangea enjoys its perennial neighbors. The other colors in a garden are emphasized and set off by the white flowers.
In April, I prune my lime lights. I hold off until I notice the buds swell. My 50 plants are often cut back to, say, 30 tall. each two years. I don’t cut them close to the ground when pruning. Fewer and larger flowers arise from really severe trimming. Larger blooms do not fascinate me. I enjoy several, medium-sized blooms. At home, I choose towering Lime Lights that are surrounded by an aged Hicks Yew hedge. I sometimes remove the old flower heads and leave them alone. You’ll get long, woody legs if you only do light pruning. I may possibly reduce them to 30 the following year. My yews hide those arthritic legs. Take your hydrangeas down closer to 30 if they are in the foreground. Irregularly. Trim each branch separately to ensure that it has a sufficient amount of air and light. If you dare, you can prune to 14 inches above the ground. Do not stoop any lower. On a shrub, forcing development from below the ground is difficult.
A lot of people have asked me about how far apart Lime Light hydrangeas should be planted. There isn’t a right or proper spacing, in my opinion. The design objective influences the spacing decision. If I want to grow a dense, uniform hedge, I space them at 30 or 36 on center. Close spacing means that the hedge grows and thrives as a single organism along its whole length and width. The several plants entwine and merge into one. A hydrangea hedge has never complained about the spacing before. There is an option for a 6 foot spacing. This row, however, cannot be understood as a hedge. The text will appear thick and thin. Wavy. One year they were spaced at 6 feet apart, and the following year they added an interspersing plant.
Hydrangea hedges convey a powerful message. As a foundation planting, a single hydrangea always appears odd and lonely. The best landscapes seamlessly incorporate each plant into the larger overall. I enjoy grouping hydrangeas. Several of a showy shrub like this should be planted. Create your gardens in their vicinity. Be benevolent.
The Lime Light flowers will start to turn pink in late September. This hue indicates that the season is winding down.
The pink becomes deeper in October. From July through October, I look forward to this vista from my rose garden. The dried flower heads remain in place throughout winter. There is a big and diverse list of plants that thrive in my zone. This bush gives me a great deal of different pleasures. I couldn’t live without hydrangeas.