The hydrangea, which blooms in the spring and summer, is classified as a shrub. Despite the fact that they can grow to be pretty enormous showpieces in your yard, even a beginner gardener won’t need to know how to grow hydrangeas because these stunning plants practically grow themselves. The hydrangea, which can grow up to 15 feet tall, fills in a space swiftly and frequently in just one summer. Hydrangeas are perennial plants that grow in hardiness Zones 3 to 7. Hydrangea blooms can be the main plant in your landscape because they bloom in the spring and frequently continue into the early fall.
Where can you find hydrangeas in the US?
Eastern Asia, eastern North America, and western Central and South America are all regions where hydrangeas naturally thrive. The smooth hydrangea (H. arborescens) is indigenous to the Appalachian Mountains in the United States.
What types of weather do hydrangeas prefer?
Old-fashioned and well-liked, hydrangeas are prized for their stunning foliage and magnificent, long-lasting blooms that come in a range of colors. Although it is well known that hydrangeas flourish in cool, damp shade, some varieties are more resistant to heat and drought than others. These magnificent plants can still be grown even in hotter, arid climates. For additional information about hydrangeas that tolerate heat, continue reading.
Where to plant hydrangeas:
- A location with morning sun and afternoon shade is ideal. They’ll take more sun if you reside further north (possibly full sun all day).
- Think about the mature size and give it lots of room to expand.
- Pick a location with great drainage. If necessary, add compost to the soil.
- Plants won’t thrive if they are planted too close to a tree because of root competition and a lack of sunshine.
- Planting should not be done in open locations where strong winds could snap stems.
How to plant hydrangeas:
- By amending your soil with up to 15% organic matter and an all-purpose slow-release fertilizer, you may give your plant a good start (use half of what is recommended).
- Plant a little higher than you did while you were in the nursery container.
- In order to give the roots plenty of freedom to expand, the planting hole should be two to three times broader than the root ball.
- Before planting, gently untie the roots from their pots.
- Add the modified dirt back in and thoroughly water it.
- Planting in groups requires a minimum distance of 3 feet (more, if planting larger varieties).
Planting hydrangeas in pots:
- Put potting soil in a bag rather than garden dirt.
- Slow-release fertilizer should be added.
- For watering, leave 1 to 2 inches between the soil’s top and the pot’s rim.
- Make sure the pot includes space for the plant to grow and drainage holes.
The hydrangea’s residence is there.
Morning sun and afternoon shade are preferable to hydrangeas. While they can withstand full sun, if they are in an area that is especially windy, they may lose moisture, which can cause the leaves to wilt. Too much sun exposure can fade and burn the blooms. Regular watering is necessary for hydrangeas, as is deep watering during dry spells. The hydrangea will live to its full lifespan if given the right quantity of sun and water.
- The fact that hydrangea shrubs are resistant to the majority of insects and illnesses adds to their long lifespan.
Can hydrangeas endure high temperatures?
If you did notice damage to your hydrangeas, the burned leaves won’t heal on their own, but your plant will still live.
Water
Deep watering will help your plant survive. You can accomplish this by applying a gentle drip around the base of the plant with a watering bag or soaker hose. In western Oregon, the majority of our soils have a high clay concentration, which means the soil can hold a lot of water. It might be challenging to re-wet the ground in the summer once it has dried out. The water takes some time to reach deeper layers of the soil.
When used on dry soil, a fast hand watering with a garden hose will only moisten the top few inches of the soil.
So that the entire root zone is irrigated, a soaker hose will assist in lowering the water level in the soil profile. When used on dry soil, a fast hand watering with a garden hose will only moisten the top few inches of the soil. To determine how deep the moisture is in the soil, use a screwdriver as a probe.
What to avoid
Your hydrangeas will probably experience some regrowth following a thorough watering, though for plants that have suffered major damage, it might take until the next summer for them to recover.
Avoid pruning since the lush new growth it produces will be more susceptible to heat waves later in the summer.
It’s acceptable to remove a few burnt or crispy mopheads or leaves to make your plant seem better. However, avoid the desire to harshly clip the plant and remove a lot of its foliage because doing so will only add to its stress and prompt a flush of sensitive new growth.
Watch for pests
Plant stress that persists after a hot wave is another possible problem. Pests like spider mites may be drawn to stressed hydrangeas. In the dry heat of the summer, spider mites can become an issue.
Keep an eye out for these tiny pests, which can result in webbing and bronzed or yellowed leaves. A constant stream of water can be used to spray them away.
Deep watering and maintaining hydrangeas’ proper hydration can lessen stress and aid in fending off these pests.
Choose hydrangeas that tolerate higher temperatures
Although there are numerous hydrangea species, only a few number of them are frequently planted in the United States. Despite their wide range of varieties, certain hydrangeas are more resistant to heat, dry soils, and sunlight than others.
Some hydrangeas are indigenous to Asia, while others are indigenous to the Southeast United States. Large blue to pink blooms on the highly prized bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla), which are magnificent in the garden but less drought and heat tolerant. Since bigleaf hydrangeas are native to coastal Japan, they thrive in such environments, which was clearly not the case during our recent heat wave.
Large blue to pink blooms on the highly prized bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla), which are magnificent in the garden but less drought and heat tolerant.
Native to the southeast of the United States, hydrangea species like oak leaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) and smooth hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens) still favor damp soils but are better able to withstand summer heat.
The panicle hydrangea is the variety that adapts the best (Hydrangea paniculata). It can withstand dry circumstances and can be planted in full sun.
Additionally, some smooth and oakleaf hydrangea cultivars can withstand sun exposure and did better during our recent heat wave.
Although none of these are “drought-tolerant plants,” some might be more suited to our environment and have gorgeous blossoms. If you’re buying hydrangeas, do your homework and study the plant tags. Cultivars can vary greatly from one another.
Can you cultivate hydrangeas in Florida?
What is your favorite plant? is usually one of the first inquiries after people learn what I do for a livelihood. That question can be challenging to answer because I’m a bit of a plant nerd! But I always come back to the same response: “Hydrangea. My fellow gardeners and I appreciate hydrangeas for a variety of factors. A hydrangea in full, billowy bloom is without a doubt one of the few plants that inspire more happy memories of summers past or lead to more impulsive purchases at nurseries. Few specimen bushes offer more floral punch while necessitating less maintenance from the grower. My own passion for hydrangeas began with my first attempt at propagation, when a softwood cutting of Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nikko Blue’—taken with the assistance of someone much more experienced than I—seemed to magically sprout roots in a makeshift greenhouse made of a cypress box with a rusty, crusty sliding glass door. The hydrangeas got me. Despite having all of these positive qualities to its name, the genus Hydrangea is nevertheless neglected and underestimated in contemporary settings. Let’s discuss some of the best Hydrangea species and cultivars to search for at the nursery as well as the two main reasons why gardeners struggle and become frustrated with hydrangeas in the landscape.
First off, hydrangeas are known for using a lot of water. Hydrangeas are sensitive to water, as their name might imply (the Greek word for water is “hydor”). They merely show signs of drought more quickly than most other plants, which does not necessarily suggest that they need more or less water than other plants. This characteristic makes hydrangea an especially valuable indicator plant in the landscape. In general, hydrangeas wilt in the afternoon heat; this is completely normal. This is especially true for those that were planted in too much sun. However, the gardener will know that irrigation is necessary if the plants are still wilting the next morning. The plants could start to deteriorate if you don’t provide watering quickly after they inform you they need it. Consider this feature as an early warning system rather than a downside. What other plant shows such concern for us gardeners?
The second most common cause of hydrandea failure is poor site selection. In Florida, growing hydrangeas in full sun produces less than stellar results. All hydrangea species thrive best when planted in areas that receive at least some afternoon shade, if not filtered shade all day long. The negative effects of afternoon sun exposure include increased wilting due to heat stress, higher irrigation needs, and “bleached flower colour.” Never forget that growing the proper plant in the incorrect location is less frustrating than other situations!
Now that you’ve learned how to grow hydrangeas successfully, it’s time to choose the right plant for your yard! For the gardener’s consideration in Northwest Florida, three main species—H. macrophylla (Bigleaf Hydrangea), H. quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea), and H. paniculata—perform notably better here than the rest of their relatives (Panicle Hydrangea).
When in bloom, H. macrophylla, the traditional hydrangea that everyone’s grandmother cultivated, stands out as one of the most distinctive plants in the shaded Southern landscape. H. macrophylla is an incredibly low maintenance plant, requiring only occasional irrigation and seldom fertilizer; H. macrophylla even tolerates salt spray and may be grown on the Gulf Coast! It has enormous “mopheads of inflorescences in stunning colours of blue (or pink, depending on soil pH). The majority of inquiries I get about H. macrophylla concern plants that aren’t flowering because they were pruned at the wrong time of year. Pruning once-blooming traditional cultivars like “Nikko Blue” as soon as flowering is ended in the late summer will produce the finest flowering returns. The wood from the previous season is where these plants establish their flower buds; pruning older varieties in the fall or winter may invigorate the plant, but it will stop it from blooming the next year. Fortunately, improvements in hydrangea breeding over the past 20 years have offered gardeners the option of planting remontant cultivars that bloom on wood from the current season. Remontant cultivars like “Endless Summer,” “Penny Mac,” “Bloomstruck,” and “All Season Beauty,” which are frequently sold, offer a similar early summer flower display to the traditional varieties but continue to bloom intermittently for the remainder of the summer. Even better, they can be cut back at any time without affecting the bloom display for the following season!
The natural Oakleaf Hydrangea is the next option for those seeking to diversify their hydrangea collection (H. quercifolia). Native to Florida, the oakleaf hydrangea grows untamed around the northern end of the Apalachicola River in steep, shaded ravines. The Oakleaf would be worthwhile to plant even if it never bloomed since it has enormous, oak-shaped leaves that may grow up to a foot long and give Floridians some of the best fall foliage color. The flowers, like with all hydrangea species, are the major attraction. This species has 8–10 white flowers in panicles that are carried gracefully above the rough-textured leaves. In addition to these qualities, Oakleaf Hydrangeas are quite simple to cultivate, reaching heights of up to 10′ and requiring only proper irrigation and some shade during the heat of the day from the gardener. Look for the cultivars “Alice,” “Semmes Beauty,” and “Snowflake,” which are the author’s favorites. These H. quercifolia cultivars and selections all do exceptionally well in Northwest Florida.
Last but not least, H. paniculata, the newest hydrangea species introduced to Florida gardens, has made tremendous strides in the landscape business during the past ten years. H. paniculata, which is primarily grown as the cultivar “Limelight,” solves some of the shortcomings of the two aforementioned species because it can withstand full sun and requires considerably less water, perhaps making it a more sustainable plant for many situations. Similar to the remontant H. macrophylla varieties, this plant blooms on new wood and even seems to relish a harsh pruning each winter; plants that have undergone this pruning appear to be more vigorous the following season and produce larger greenish-white flower panicles than those that have not. H. paniculata, in particular “Limelight,” is a valuable addition to any landscape, despite the fact that it is a relative newcomer.
You can see that there is a hydrangea for every yard, and no authentically Southern landscape is complete without a few of them. This summer, when browsing your neighborhood garden center, check for the options and species described above, plant them correctly, and then take pleasure in the succeeding yearly flower display for many years to come! Who knows, you might develop a love for hydrangeas as I did!
How cold should it be for hydrangeas?
Many people were dissatisfied last year because their hydrangea shrubs produced few, if any, flowers. It was assumed that the particularly hard winter was to blame.
There are numerous hydrangea species, but the majority of them that are grown by homeowners in their gardens belong to the genus Hydrangea macrophylla.
The two groupings of H. macrophylla are distinguished by the appearance of their flowers. The mopheads have a broad, rounded shape and can range in color from red to pink to white to blue to green and many colors in between. Similar in color, the lacecaps are flattened corymbs with fertile blooms in the center and spectacular clusters of sepals of various sizes around them.
Hardiness zones 6 to 9 apply to H. macrophylla. A hydrangea should, in theory, be able to withstand temperatures as low as -10 degrees. However, in the real world, temperatures as low as 12 degrees and freezes in the late fall or early spring may limit this hydrangea’s ability to flower.
H. macrophylla forms its bloom buds in the summer and the fall in response to the shorter days and chilly temperatures. To achieve bud dormancy, the bud must be refrigerated for 1,000–1,200 hours, or roughly seven weeks.
As the weather gets warmer, buds open, shoots appear, and blooms grow. Flower buds and vegetative stems will perish if this happens at the end of February, as it did last year and may do this year as well. In the spring, the plant might grow again from the root, but it won’t produce flowers. It has sturdy roots, but delicate flower buds.
On fresh wood, on the woody stems from the current year, H. macrophylla flowers. If a shrub needs to be pruned, it should have been done last year when the blooming season had just ended. Avoid pruning it. You will now remove any budding flower buds.
I have been growing my favorite variety of H. macrophylla for almost 15 years, and it is called “Blue Billows.”
Dr. Richard Lighty of the Mount Cuba Center in Hockessin, Delaware, originally grew this lacecap, Hydrangea serrata, from seed gathered in the Korean mountains. The inner fertile flowers are a darker blue than the outer sterile blossoms, which are blue with a pink blush.
Before relatively recently, the taxonomists classified the H. serrata variation as a distinct species from the macrophylla. It possesses each of the traits that distinguish H. macrophylla from other species. The leaves are smaller, though, and it has a stunning copper-red fall color. From June to October, the plant blooms; as fall approaches, the blossoms turn over to reveal pink undersides.
It is situated for me in some moderate shade with drained soil. They call it a “robust plant.
Most recently, the big root ball split in two when I moved it to a shadier spot. I then discovered that it had sucker-grown or air-layered three smaller plants.
It is a dense shrub that grows to be about 3 feet tall and wide, and it is so covered in leaf and flowers that I was unaware I had four additional plants until I started to move it.
This low-maintenance shrub works well as a border shrub or as a foundation plant. And it will offer you profusion that you can keep or gift to others as a reward. It was chosen by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society in 1990 as a Gold Medal Plant.
Depending on the amount of aluminum ions in the soil, the color of the flower varies. In more acidic soils, the concentration is higher, whereas in more alkaline soils, it is lower. For the majority of H. macrophylla and H. serrata cultivars, acidic soil (pH 5.5 and below) will result in blue flowers, whereas neutral to alkaline soils (pH 6.5 and higher) will typically result in pink flowers. The blooms will be purple or a combination of blue and pink blossoms will be seen on the same plant between pH 5.5 and pH 6.5.
The most constant guideline for growing hydrangeas, though, is that there is a lot of variety and no absolutes.
At this time of year, Hydrangea arborescens is another hydrangea that merits discussion. It also appears as lacecap and mophead flowers. The names “Annabelle,” “Invincible Spirit,” and “Grandiflora” are a few well-known cultivars. All of these flower on fresh wood. Cut them to the ground now, in late winter, and apply a mild fertilizer.
Place a support structure around the plant before it starts to grow since the flowers are frequently too heavy for the stems to keep the plant upright.
The new plant will start to bloom in June or July and continue to do so for several weeks.
As the petals wilt, cut the stem at the base and remove the leaves if you want to dry them. Cut them to the length you want, then hang them backwards. They make wonderful dried flowers and can be sprayed with spray paint to add color.