Over winter here in Florida my hydrangea shrub became a bunch of sticks. The stems lost nearly all their leaves.
January
After all danger of frost – around the end of February – I cut the stems back removing the old leaves. There were new leaf bud growths already forming along the stems.
February, after cutting back
Attempting to Propagate a New Plant
In the photos above and below I have placed a rock over a low hanging stem. I’m hoping that roots will form so I can cut this part off and plant it creating a new hydrangea plant!
Rooting a stem
This hydrangea is growing in a nice shady location beneath a larger shrub. It seems to be happy and now I’ll just wait for the flowers.
All I’ve used for fertilizer is some bone meal and fish emulsion.
In 2011 I bought a house and began to fill the yard with perennials. Â I had a lot of cleaning up to do, as the gardens were pretty ugly – but not as ugly as the house! Â In between fixing up the inside of my home, I spent time beautifying my new yard.
That first summer was spent clearing away old growth and garden edging, but in Spring 2012 I was ready to buy some perennials, and one of the first shrubs I wanted was the hydrangea.
It is now 2015, just three short years later, and I thought I’d share pictures of those plants, and their offspring (propagated plants). I also want to post an update to acknowledge my favorites, problems, etc. to share with readers.
First, the Blushing Bride, hydrangea macrophylla. The pictures below were all taken in August, 2015. The first is the original shrub I bought from a local nursery. The next two are pictures of the two I propagated from the original. I planted them last year, and as you can see, they are almost as large as the original. In fact, one of the ‘babies’ is blooming, and the others are not.
These are beautiful shrubs, with large green leaves, and I highly recommend this perennial for the yard.
Blushing Bride – original shrub
Blushing Bride propagated plant
Blushing Bride baby #2 – no blooms this year
The blue-flowering hydrangea, ‘Endless Summer’ is pictured here. It’s not flowering much this year, but I blame the bad winter. There are two small flowers at the bottom. I think in time, as it ages, this will be a more beautiful shrub. I also cut down a larger bush that was preventing it from getting sun. That may help with blooms next year.
Endless Summer
Please see my next post and read my review, with pictures, of two more hydrangeas, the paniculatas – the Pinky Winky and Limelight – which have elongated blooms.
All season I have been photographing my beautiful Pinky Winky hydrangea shrub. Now I am ready to share my pictures, in a blooming timeline, to show the progression of the flower color from spring (summer) through fall.
The bush is lopsided because the deer decided that the buds would be a tasty treat (darn deer), but at least they left me some flowering stems.
So here you have the white to pink progression, with a surprise late white flower showing in my last photo. After all the blooms had turned totally dark pink, a lone white bloom appeared. It looks so pretty against the rest of the bush, that I made a hydrangea poster from the image to sell in my BlueHyd store.
If you are unfamiliar with this variety, the flowers begin as all white, then gradually become pink from the bottom up. As time goes on the pink darkens to a beautiful shade, which can be seen in my last image here.
The Buds in JulyWhite Flowers – side branches were chewed by Deer!Some Pink Beginning to ShowMost flowers are pink by late summerSept: All flowers are dark pink except for one new white bloom
I don’t have the exact dates listed, these photos were taken from the end of July through September. The hydrangeas don’t really start to grow flowers in my area (southwestern New Hampshire) until summer. The pinky winky is a fun one to watch as it changes throughout the season. This bush also attracts a lot of bees. So along with being a beautiful ornamental for the yard, I am helping to feed the wildlife – deer and bees! I don’t mind the bees, but those deer have plenty to eat without ruining my hydrangeas.
I didn’t know what to expect from my newly planted hydrangeas this year, and I am pleasantly surprised!
All types – Limelight, Endless Summer, Pinky Winky, Pee Gee and this gorgeous Blushing Bride, are flowering.
The Blushing Bride shrub must really love the dirt it’s growing in, because it is taking off. The leaves are large; the plant is sturdy and healthy looking, and the flowers are huge – this one is nearly 10 inches across. I am not doing anything differently with this plant than all the others.
I had to get the tape measure out to show the actual size of this bloom. The white petals are mixed with some pink and green now. It will be fun to watch how the colors change as the flowers age.
The Endless Summer’s blue flowers are really pretty, but only half as large. That poor plant got flattened early on by a freak rain storm we had. Apparently it’s not as sturdy as it’s sister with the white flowers.
I will be working on some new wedding stationery using photos of this flower and getting them up soon in my online store.
Hydrangeas Blue 