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White Hydrangea

DyersEndDyersEnd Posts: 730
in Plants

I was given this plant yesterday and guessing it needs to be kept indoors for now at least.

image

 The question is, what next?  It's obviously been forced to flower now but I'd like to plant it in the garden at some point.  Should I wait for the flowers to die and then cut them off before I plant it outside or should I prune it now and hope it will flower again later. Or should I just plant it outside now?

In short, what should I do and when to give it the best chance of surviving and thriving?

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,087

    It depends whether it's a mophead or a lace cap as the latter is hardier.  See below.   For now, I would be tempted to put it in a bigger pot for now and tease out the roots so they grow into the new compost.  This will help it gain strength for planting out when the flowers are finished.

    The RHS advice for mop heads and lace caps is as follows:-

    Dead-heading
    • Dead blooms on mophead hydrangeas can, in mild areas, be removed just after flowering, but it is best to leave them on the plant over winter to provide some frost protection for the tender growth buds below. Remove the dead flowerheads in early spring, cutting back the stem to the first strong, healthy pair of buds down from the faded bloom

    • Lacecaps are hardier, and the faded flowerheads can be cut back after flowering to the second pair of leaves below the head in order to prevent seed developing, which saps energy from the plant

    Pruning established mopheads and lacecaps
    • Cut out one or two of the oldest stems at the base to encourage the production of new, replacement growth that will be more floriferous
    • Poor or neglected plants can be entirely renovated by cutting off all the stems at the base. However, this will remove all the flowers for that summer, and the new stems will not bloom until the following year
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  • rosiemurrayrosiemurray Posts: 1

    Lovely plants with a bit of care. I had two enormous ones for my daughters wedding 5 years ago and they are still going strong and flower every year. I agree with potting on to a slightly larger pot.  Should be ok outside now in a sheltered position. The plant is hardy but the blooms may be spoilt be rain/ wind or a hard frost and will turn brown.  I would leave them in pots this summer so that you can move them around. Keep them well watered in hot weather. In Autumn you could plant them in the garden or keep them going in slightly larger pots each year but feed and water regularly during the growing season.  If you plant out, you will still have beautiful blooms but they might be less pristine because of the weather and have shades of green pink or brown as the blooms age. 

  • DyersEndDyersEnd Posts: 730

    Thank you both.  I looked at the bottom of the pot after I'd posted the original question and there are no drainage holes (I suspect it came from a florist rather than a garden centre) so I'll definitely pot it on straight away. We have frost forecast from now for the next week so I think I'll keep it indoors for a bit.

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