Hydrangeas and The Rainy, Cold Summer

Hydrangea bud — End of June Hydrangea Bud

It’s the end of June and in southwestern New Hampshire the hydrangea in my yard is full of buds. The bush is very full this year since I didn’t do any cutting back, but the overall color is not the dark green of the leaves you see in this photo. In fact the bush seems to be divided with part of the stems showing off dark greenery and the rest showing a lighter, less healthy looking green.

The disadvantage I have where I live is that this yard is not mine. I live in a duplex and the owner lives next to me. She goes out and fertilizes with something – seaweed I think – and so I have to be careful of what I add to the plant. I usually just keep it watered and see what happens. Last year the blooms were not as nicely colored as the year before and the flowers were also smaller.

This year is also the first time I have seen browning of the leaves. You can see it in my photo below. So I had to check on diseases of hydrangeas and found that they can get spots on the leaves. However, that site didn’t say why or what to do about them. The leaves in some places, look like something is eating them.

As I have said, it’s not my yard and not my plant, so I’m not worrying too much about it. My landlady is not much of a gardener so I doubt that she even notices or cares. I’ll keep an eye on it and see what happens, but it might have something to do with the fact that we are having a rainy and cold spring and summer season this year. In fact, I have hardly been outside!

I’m looking out for the flowers. I hope they open before I move in July.

hydrangea shrub with light and dark leaves — Dark and Light Leaves and Brown Spots

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Author: Pam

Spending time on the water is the best, and blogging about the sea life found along the saltwater river and ocean is what I do. I’m also a designer at Zazzle and sell products containing beach, tropical, and water themes. View all posts by Pam

2 thoughts on “Hydrangeas and The Rainy, Cold Summer”

Hello Hydragea Blue,
We have experienced very similar weather conditions here in The Fraser Valley this spring. Not unusual to get one day of sunshine per week. Now that July has arrived things are improving, although we are still waiting for some normal heat for the time of year. My hydrangeas are blooming and don’t show any problems.I agree your problem was probably caused by your neighbor playing with fertilizers.Happy 4th of July to you!
Jack

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