Question about Hydrangeas

I was going to post this exact question two weeks ago. I ended up cutting mine back, which was just as well bc I had moved them last year and they were mis-shapen for their new locations.

I actually think it is more a result of last summer's brutal heat. I remember that at the end of last summer the hydrangeas' leaves all wilted before the fall, which was unusual for the time of season but, in retrospect, probably not surprising because of the cumulative effects of the heat.

Even if the branches take a few seasons to recover, I'm happy. Quite frankly, I thought they were all dead!

Sadly, the weather is going bonkers in both directions: Colder/snowier in winter, hotter and dryer in summer. Not a good thing for our plants, which will have to learn to adapt or perish.

Not only does my "Endless Summer" look like crap, there's poison ivy growing next to it that I can't spray. Grrrrrrrr.

Seems to be a bumper year for Poison Ivy, huh? Figures.

Experienced similar problems, and thought that it was just our plant (we have just one) - so in a way, am glad to hear that it appears to be a general problem. Although our bus had lovely flowers last year, they pretty much appeared to 'rot' on the branches well before the time that they should have been 'finished' - hence I was not able to cut and dry them. The leaves also didn't look right. I thought it might have been a fungus, but after reading what others have said, it may have been the hot dry summer (?). This spring, none of the old branches have any leaves, although there are numerous new sprouts coming up from the ground. It took several years after planting for this plant to get lovely flowers ..... hopefully we are not starting all over again!

GrNle...

You probably are... Sorry!

Only loss is time. They'll be back!

Best Regards,
Ron Carter

it's really rather remarkable how resilient many plants are. No matter what we do to them, they keep trying.

Well, We or Winter!

-Ron

Yes, absolutely.

MOL Garden Peeps,

I've got a group of women (5 I think) coming at 2pm Thursday to see The Secret Garden @ 377.
If you wish to join in please send me an email on rcarter31@aol.com. My cell is in the "shop."

377 South Harrison St, East Orange. Our entry drive is on the north side of the building and is a left turn off Harrison when coming from South Orange Ave. Once you turn you'll see a sign for Visitor's Parking.

Best Regards,
Ron Carter

You'll get to see lots of hydrangea growing only from the ground!
Plus Iris and peonies and Kouza Dogwood and Snow Bell trees and some roses too.
Our collection of 35 types of Hosta.

-Ron

What eats hydrangeas? I've had mine for a decade and nothing bothered them. Suddenly in the last week -- Something seems to be biting the stems where they meet the main branch almost like cutting it off, effectively killing the stem but not eating the leaves -- I've never seen this before ?? Any idea what might be doing this?

Perhaps a deer is experimenting? They bite but then don't like the taste, so the leaf still hangs there but is effectively cut from the plant?

My parents had a lovely tulip bed when I was about 13. One day a wild pheasant worked over the entire bed. He would tilt his head to one side and size up a flower. Then he would reach out and snip the stalk at a central point, causing the tulip stem to fold in half, with the flower down near the ground. He did the whole damn bed this way, as if he was creating a new work of art. Never seen anything else even remotely like it.

It is probably deer. The herd eats whatever the matriarchal doe likes. Sometime you can tell when there is a new matriarch because something new is eaten.

I hope the small herd that used to hang out in our back yard in West Orange has moved on. They had taken to eating the roses... the new growth and flower buds. Our last summer there we had almost no blooms on the roses, and that seems such a shame. Funny things, deer.

We have only seen deer once at our new house, three of them in the woods. I guess because it is so rural here they are a bit more wild and cautious around people. No crowded 'burbs to get them used to humans. But I have seen signs of something at work in my front bed, breaking branches here and nibbling on hosta there.

Peggy C -- That type of snipping happened to one of my alliums this spring -- looked like someone had cut it midpoint -- guess it was a bird. Forgot about that one.
re Hydrangeas since the damage is close to the ground was assuming something other than deer -- am sadly well acquainted with deer damage and spray regularly which helps but is not 100% effective. But deer tend to browse higher up on the shrubs. Ad yes they will eat my rose buds!!

Yeah, they do go pretty high. Our roses used to be leveled at about four feet off the ground sometimes! But they also used to eat our hostas right to the ground, so there's that.

I tried underplanting our roses with lavender and rosemary, since the deer don't like the astringent-smelling herbs. Maybe that's a thought for your situation?

Sadly, my huge white Annabelle hydrangea in the front is struggling to bloom. I'm going to have to do some snipping this weekend. The other hydrangeas in the back of the house all have full leaves -- especially the one the air conditioner guys stomped on twice. I thought it was gone as it was stomped to the ground, but here it is coming up again. I will have to move it because if I ever need service again, I don't want it to get stomped again.

Peggy I do have lavender under my roses -- the deer skip the lavender and go right for the rose buds...

I'd say, no more nicey-nice, time for venison jerky!

I swear by this stuff: http://www.deerout.com/

I live steps from protected woodland,and it is not unusual to disturb 10 to 20 deer grazing when I take the garbage out .

I have been using Deer Out for a couple of years, and I now know what my red daylilies look like, after having them in the ground for 7 years and having all the buds nipped off.

The product doesn't really need reapplication for 90 days if there is not much rain. It is all natural, and made in NJ

mbmom said:

Peggy I do have lavender under my roses -- the deer skip the lavender and go right for the rose buds...

Well, the idea is they would stay away from the roses because they don't like the smell of the lavender that's right there, but clearly it doesn't work. Sorry. It didn't help us much, either.

My Endless Summer is setting blooms.

Now THAT is a healthy looking Hydrangea!

why, thank you, Meta!

My hydrangea are all leaves this year and less than half the size of last year. Is there any hope for this season?

Mine are the same as yours, @NizhoniGrrrl - most of my neighbors' hydrangeas seem to be in this same state, although a few are flowering. Have no idea why. This is the first year in 34 years that they haven't flowered. Lots of dead canes, but new growth looks healthy and green, just no flowers this year. As we used to say in Brooklyn, just wait 'til next year! ;-)

NizhoniGrrrl said:

My hydrangea are all leaves this year and less than half the size of last year. Is there any hope for this season?

Probably not. That's a perfect description of my 'Endless Summer', which was clearly a victim of endless winter.

Boo hoo.