I can't believe how much water they like. I have an irrigation system and even though the compost in their container has been wet I have continued to water automatically every evening along with the borders because they are so dry. I would have thought that they would have complained but on the contrary, the compost is soaking but they have grown beautifully. I have also fed once with a special hydrangea feed. So my guess is a lack of regular watering.
Don't really understand the watering issue - or lack of! I live in central France, it has been 40 in the shade for 2 weeks now, blistering sun, and they are growing everywhere - confused I are.
Ours is scorched too. Should we cut away the dried blooms? I know we should leave them for frost protection, but if we deadhead now, will we get more blooms now the weather is not so hot?
Typhoo I live in France too, and yes old established Hydrangeas in a suitable place with deep soil can take this weather, but happy they aint.... there are also more resistant varieties, and again plants will react different if the heat hits them on young fresh foliage or on older, darker, harder leaves.
All in all they are very tough, but very sensitive to the conditions of their environment.
Broadly speaking, you can never go wrong giving them water.
My dark leaved lacecap hydrangea has been a real disappointment. I can't remember what it's called- it was a woman's name when I bought it three or four years ago. It hasn't any buds yet at all and it never really grows any bigger.
BUT - why white macrophylla are a different story. They are blooming madly this year and I can only account for that as being the frequent showers for weeks. This one in the photo, I planted I think three years ago. It was in a pot and only a foot high when bought. This year, for some reason, which must be the rain because nothing else has changed in conditions - it is flowering its socks off and a lot of the flower heads are 10-12" - which is bigger than usual. When a flower head gets a bit scruffy, I cut down to the next node - I think node is what I mean. I usually get repeat blooms up until October. Then they start to go brownish and dry and I leave the brown heads on. If there has been a few days of drying winds - I hose the entire garden, whether there have been showers in between or not and it seems to like this. I give it about 3 minutes of complete soak at the base. I've never given it any feed of any kind and it's in clay soil which has nothing added - although it was dug and hoed very well originally when planted. I lop the brown heads off around April.
To be honest, the biggest flowerheads are a bit too big for me.
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I can't believe how much water they like. I have an irrigation system and even though the compost in their container has been wet I have continued to water automatically every evening along with the borders because they are so dry. I would have thought that they would have complained but on the contrary, the compost is soaking but they have grown beautifully. I have also fed once with a special hydrangea feed. So my guess is a lack of regular watering.
Don't really understand the watering issue - or lack of! I live in central France, it has been 40 in the shade for 2 weeks now, blistering sun, and they are growing everywhere - confused I are.
Ours is scorched too. Should we cut away the dried blooms? I know we should leave them for frost protection, but if we deadhead now, will we get more blooms now the weather is not so hot?
Typhoo I live in France too, and yes old established Hydrangeas in a suitable place with deep soil can take this weather, but happy they aint.... there are also more resistant varieties, and again plants will react different if the heat hits them on young fresh foliage or on older, darker, harder leaves.
All in all they are very tough, but very sensitive to the conditions of their environment.
Broadly speaking, you can never go wrong giving them water.
Flip Flop, essentially it depends on the veriety. Some are able to bloom again, some less so.
Have cut away those where I can see leaf/bloom buds forming lower down the stem. Will see what happens!
My dark leaved lacecap hydrangea has been a real disappointment. I can't remember what it's called- it was a woman's name when I bought it three or four years ago. It hasn't any buds yet at all and it never really grows any bigger.
BUT - why white macrophylla are a different story. They are blooming madly this year and I can only account for that as being the frequent showers for weeks. This one in the photo, I planted I think three years ago. It was in a pot and only a foot high when bought. This year, for some reason, which must be the rain because nothing else has changed in conditions - it is flowering its socks off and a lot of the flower heads are 10-12" - which is bigger than usual. When a flower head gets a bit scruffy, I cut down to the next node - I think node is what I mean. I usually get repeat blooms up until October. Then they start to go brownish and dry and I leave the brown heads on. If there has been a few days of drying winds - I hose the entire garden, whether there have been showers in between or not and it seems to like this. I give it about 3 minutes of complete soak at the base. I've never given it any feed of any kind and it's in clay soil which has nothing added - although it was dug and hoed very well originally when planted. I lop the brown heads off around April.
To be honest, the biggest flowerheads are a bit too big for me.