I received a very large hydrangea from a friend last summer. It was old but had not bloomed in several years. I brought it home and split it into 7 small plants that I planted in a straight row along my property line. These plants get morning sun, afternoon shade. I got one pink bloom on one plant, the other six have no blooms. I have decided that maybe I should plant them close together in a circle because I do not like how they look in a straight line. I live in the Grand Rapids Michigan area, zone 5. Will they live if I move them now, end of July, the weather is in the upper 70's. If now is not the best time, when would be? How many years will it take to get bigger and get more blooms? Thank you
I would wait until spring. It usually takes about three years for them to become a pretty good size. I think if they are not blooming well they may not be hardy there. Do you know which one it is?
I do not know what kind it is. It has one large light pink bloom on it. How can I tell what kind it is?
I just went out and inspected the hydrangeas looking for new blooms and I noticed that there are little brown spots on the stems. Is this normal, or do they have a disease?
How do I prune this and when? This spring I cut all the "what I thought was dead wood stems" down to the ground. After I did this someone told me that I should have left the stems and new growth would come on the old stems. Even though I cut these down to the ground I still got growth. This is my first experience with hydrangeas.
This will bloom on old wood so if you cut it down to the ground you will not get blooms this year (unless it is Endless summer or one of the ones that bloom on NEW wood). You should wait until the new growth starts and make sure the bare stems are really dead before cutting them back. Best thing to do is not cut anything back until you know what is dead. They will form buds end of summer and so anything you cut off later than that will not bloom the next summer. I know they look pretty bad in the winter but if you want blooms this is the only way to get them.
i'd wait until spring to move them - then they'll have time to establish the roots again (after being disturbed by moving) before the winter hits. some types bloom on old wood and others on new wood. no way to really know which you have until you experience things (since you don't have a variety name for it). some varieties can also have different colored flowers - and those types you can do a bit to manipulate which color you get. that's the 'nico blue' variety. i have that one, and after years of growing, i get a mix of pink, purple, lavendar and blue flowers on different parts of the plant - obviously, the soil has different levels of acidity in different spots, so, what the roots are growing in affects the flowers on that particular stem. it's really quite pretty with all the different colors! since one piece did get a bloom, i'd hazard that the other pieces just need to grow a year or two before they will bloom. it can take 3-4 years for them to become completely established and to really grow well. if you did some pruning, then, that may indicate that this one is, indeed, a type that blooms on old wood. time will tell, though, about that!! your conditions with sun light sound perfect. as long as the soil stays moist enough (they're thirsty bushes), then you should see some good growth and should have blooms on all within the next 2 years. if you really want to, move them in early spring - prepare the new holes first and move them before noon and preferably on an overcast day (will lessen the shock to them). since you just planted them this year AND had split the piece out as well, i'd give them a full year in the spots they are in now before moving them - give them a chance to develop a half-decent root system before disturbing them again. i'd wait to move them until spring of 11.
