Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Why is My Hydrangea Not Blooming?

1.     Did I prune my hydrangea back fairly drastically in the fall or winter?

2.     Did my hydrangea leaf out early in the spring during a warm spell and then get caught in a late spring freeze?



 Last year, I planted a beautiful hydrangea.  It bloomed all summer and into the fall.    Then winter came and it looked like it died.  I was so excited this Spring to see the green sprouts coming  through the brown.

But here it is September and while my hydrangea is lush with green leaves, there is not a single bloom on it.

So, what is a girl to do?

Google.

I googled the question, Why Won't My Hydrangea Bloom?

And THIS link came up.  Everything I am about to tell you, I learned  at Hydrangeas Hygrangeas - a whole entire website dedicated to, well, hydrangeas. 

I love Google. 

The site asks two very important questions

1.     Did I prune my hydrangea back fairly drastically in the fall or winter?

1.  Did I cut my hydrangea back drastically in the fall or winter? - Yes, I did.

 
2.  Did it bloom out early Spring and then get caught in a late Spring freeze? - No, it did not.

The picture below,which is from their site, shows a hydrangea with new growth coming up from the ground only - this is a sure sign that you will not get blooms on your plant, according to the site.

This is EXACTLY what mine looked like this Spring!  So, it would prove to be true because mine has no blooms.  I think we've covered that already, though. 

Photo by Michael DirrThe site goes on to tell SO much more about hydrangeas, like which types are good for your gardening zone, how not to kill them and very importantly the right way to prune them.  Which is the exactly the advice I need so that my beautiful plant will bloom next year.

I've bookmarked this site for sure. 

That is what I Learned This Week.  Head on over to Musings of A Housewife to find out more lessons learned!   


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8 comments:

Muthering Heights said...

Oh man!! Poor hydrangea!!! Don't feel bad...that's what ALL of my plants look like! ;)

Melissa Angert {All Things Chic} said...

yeah - my plants look like that too!

The Mommy said...

There really is a website for everything!

happyathome said...

You not the only one, many people have been complaining about their plants not blooming. Most of the time it is due to pruning back too heavy. I have only one type I can seem to grow, the rest d not. This has to do with soil Ph, only white and no fun colors. Oh well, have to look at other plants to subsidize me!

jen@odbt said...

So when are you supposed to cut back? This is the first summer I got gorgeous blooms on my hydrangea. I'm always afraid to prune.

Allison said...

I have a brown thumb...which is why we have landscapers and no blooming plants in front of our house!

The Buntens said...

Well ladies, all of my gardening is by trial and error. Some of it works and most doesn't. ;)

Color: According to this website if you have a white hydrangea it cannot be changed by the grower. Interesting little fact that I did not know. I thought you could change all the colors from white to red. Apparently not -according to that website. And those in the south can count on not ever having a true red hydrangea. boo.
Pink and blue hydrangea can, however, be changed by adding and deleting different minerals to the soil.
More on color
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/colorchange.html



Pruing: Depending on your variety of hydrangea is when and how you prune. Mopheads never really need pruning except dead wood or dead heading which can be done anytime. Now, I know this...

Otherwise, I would check this link before you prune.
http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/pruning.html

The Fritz Facts said...

We are planting Hydrangea so this is fabulous information! Thanks

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