Hydrangea help, please.

June 22, 2009 3:16 PM

Why does my hydrangea not fully blooming?

Please tell me how to attach a picture to show you, if possible.

The plant only has about 5 or 6 blooms, the rest of them have just made a very small, flower like bloom, not the big, beautiful ones typically seen. Does it just take time, as my plant is only in it's second or third year planted. It has gotten bigger, but the blooms just aren't progressing.

Can anyone help?

posted by Chele66 to home & garden (7 comments total)

This, and the site in general, might be helpful.
posted by necessitas at 3:36 PM on June 22 [2 favorites has favorites]

I have about six hydrangeas in my front yard and five of them do exactly what you are describing. ONE of them has beautiful blooms and it is the only one that is protected somewhat from full sun by another tall plant in front of it.

My amateur diagnosis? Full sun is an issue.
posted by Edubya at 4:43 PM on June 22

I think also that the forced blooms you get when you buy a plant, created under artificial conditions to make the plant appeal attractive to the purchaser, may not be something you shoudl regularly expect from a growing hydrangea - I've seen many outoor growing bushes and grown up with them: some have a few large blooms, but for most of them, the blooms are in the mid to small range, even for a very large bush.
posted by mccn at 5:54 PM on June 22

Yeah, sun can be an issue. Mine get about 6 hours of FULL sun each day, which seems to suit them just fine. I have a whole row of them, and they're blooming like crazy - EXCEPT for 2 on the end that are in full shade all day long. So ymmv. I have the 'endless summer' variety.

One thing I've learned is that they're hydrangeas. Hydra. Water. They need LOTS of water. And put on one application of some type of plant food. Note... lots of foliage and new growth without many flowers can be a sign of overdoing the plant food.

One more thing... on most varieties of hydrangeas, flowers only form on NEW growth. After you get your plant to the size you want it, it's time to start pruning back to force new growth.

Good luck!
posted by matty at 6:02 PM on June 22

I think you may have a lacecap hydrangea, instead of a mophead. If so, that's the way they're supposed to look.
posted by raisingsand at 8:05 PM on June 22

Thank you for all the responses. I think raisingsand has solved my problem. I never knew there were different kinds- Now I know to look for mopheads- those are my favorite.
posted by Chele66 at 8:47 PM on June 22

If you are buying new mopheads to plant, also make sure that the variety you are getting is hardy enough for your climate zone. Most mophead varieties bloom on the second year a stalk buds, and if your plants are not hardy enough for your climate zone's winter temperatures, you'll get few or no blooms, because your stalks are dying back too far over the winter.
posted by paulsc at 12:25 AM on June 23