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Climbing Hydrangea

peterb139peterb139 Posts: 3
in The potting shed
I planted a climbing hydrangea about 5 years ago. It is growing well but has so far completely failed to flower. It is growing on an east facing wall but I have also put a cutting on a north facing wall which is also happily growing but not blooming. Has anyone had a similar experience and were you able to resolve it? Thanks

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Hi @peterb139 - what care has it had? They do need quite moist conditions, and if too near the wall, it can be very dry. 
    In drier parts of the country, that's compounded, and the plant will reserve it's energy for the foliage, rather than putting efforts into flowers  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • peterb139peterb139 Posts: 3
    It is up against a wall but, here in the east of Manchester, it gets plenty of rain. I will certainly pay it more attention if we get another dry spell (next year lol). I saw somewhere that they don't like too much nitrogen in the soil, makes them focus on foliage. Thanks for your help

  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    They do take 3 to 5 years to flower. The flowers can be very sparse and sonetimes easy to miss until the plant is older. Some sun morning or evening helps too
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited October 2020
    I agree with all the above.

    I would give it two buckets full of water twice a week from March to mid September whether it rains or not ... 3 times or more a week in dry spells. 

    They do take a while to be mature enough to flower, and also remember that they bloom on growth (sideshoots) produced in the previous year, so any pruning/tidying is going to remove flowering growth. 

    https://www.hydrangeaguide.com/climbing-hydrangea/

    One of my favourite plants ... enjoy 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - they do take a while @K67 . Beautiful plant, and I often wish I could have one here, but the house walls aren't suitable. 
    I planted one at the last house, but wasn't around long enough to see it develop. It looked quite good last time I saw it though. There's one near me that's on a south facing house wall. Grows beautifully. Cooler, damper climate, so no problem. They don't mind some sun, but in many areas, they would fry in that sort of aspect.

    No shortage of the wet stuff here either @peterb139  ;) 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • peterb139peterb139 Posts: 3
    Thanks everyone, I shall pay it more attention in future and check out the link
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