{"id":10685,"date":"2019-03-25T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=10685"},"modified":"2018-10-26T12:18:40","modified_gmt":"2018-10-26T16:18:40","slug":"temperamental-big-leaf-hydrangeas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2019\/03\/25\/temperamental-big-leaf-hydrangeas\/","title":{"rendered":"Temperamental Big Leaf Hydrangeas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hydrangea macrophylla<\/p><\/div>\n

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H. macrophylla ‘Summer Crush’<\/p><\/div>\n

Get use to it\u2026 big leaf hydrangeas (<\/em>Hydrangea macrophylla<\/em>), also called hortensia hydrangeas, are temperamental (USDA hardiness zones 6-9). After a long winter of sub-freezing temperatures, these blue (or pink) flowering shrubs should\u00a0be stunningly beautiful in spring. However, if the late winter- early spring\u00a0temps flucuate wildly, grab your pruning shears.<\/p>\n

Too most gardeners, myself included, find growing\u00a0these hydrangeas\u00a0totally frustrating.\u00a0Bloom buds on the old wood\u00a0are predictably\u00a0injured two out of three springs in zone 6 eastern TN, Southwestern VA, and western NC (southern Appalachian region). Flower buds and stems are most susceptible to injury as the plants start to break dormancy in late winter, then get\u00a0smacked by a sudden cold snap.<\/p>\n

To protect against winter freeze damage: 1.<\/strong> site\u00a0big leaf hydrangeas close to\u00a0your house or a heated structure; 2.<\/strong> do not feed plants in the fall; 3<\/strong>. select better cold tolerant cultivars (varieties).<\/p>\n

In northern climes, such as Midwest or New England states, cover big leaf hydrangeas with mulch or leaves. In late winter inspect the lower buds as the plants start to awaken. You don’t want to trap excessive moisture around the growing buds and invite diseases to the plant.<\/p>\n

Hydrangea\u00a0breeders (Bailey’s , Proven Winner’s and Spring Meadow Nurseries to\u00a0list three) continue to introduce\u00a0hardier bigleaf\u00a0hydrangeas that bloom on both new and old wood. Old wood flowers are set on last year\u2019s shoots\u00a0and new flowers are made on current season’s growth. Do not prune hydrangeas late in the summer, as you may be removing flower buds the following spring.<\/p>\n

Over a quarter century, Proven Winners Colorchoice\u2122 and Bailey\u2019s Nurseries (Endless Summer\u2122, Bloomstruck\u2122, and Summer Crush\u2122 brands) have introduced new hydrangea genetics. Try short growing Let’s Dance\u2122\u00a0 series \u00a0in small gardens.\u00a0Also, grow a different hydrangea species\u00a0such as\u00a0mountain hydrangea (H. serrata<\/em>). New from PW Colorchoice is the Tuff Stuff\u00ae series of mountain hydrangeas which\u00a0display superior bud hardiness and re-bloom. Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha\u00ae re-blooms heavily and has large lacecap blooms with double sepals,that are either pink or blue depending on soil (media) pH.\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get use to it\u2026 big leaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla), also called hortensia hydrangeas, are temperamental (USDA hardiness zones 6-9). After a long winter of sub-freezing temperatures, these blue (or pink) flowering shrubs should\u00a0be stunningly beautiful in spring. However, if the late winter- early spring\u00a0temps flucuate wildly, grab your pruning shears. Too most gardeners, myself included, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,357,1304,1281,299,605,1037,144,674,1115,665,622,853,551,843,1060,990,601,729,1235,777,1210,705,706,646,7,113,455,642],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10685"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11076,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10685\/revisions\/11076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}