[fishnthec]

Can anyone tell me why my hydrangeas don't get big fluffy flowers like everyone else's?

[Scottie1972]

common issues:
1) A late spring freeze arrives and ruins the developing bloom buds.
2) Improper pruning.
3) Planted in wrong zone.

But, some breads of hydrangeas do not grow the big fluffy puff balls of flowers.



has this planet ever flowered big puffy balls?

[rockysmom]

fishnthec, on 06 May 2012 - 11:29 AM, said:

Can anyone tell me why my hydrangeas don't get big fluffy flowers like everyone else's?
DSC03423.jpg

There are lots of different kinds. I want to say yours look like the lacy variety. Which, to me anyway, are the prettiest.

[fishnthec]

Scottie1972, on 06 May 2012 - 11:37 AM, said:

common issues:
1) A late spring freeze arrives and ruins the developing bloom buds.
2) Improper pruning.
3) Planted in wrong zone.

But, some breads of hydrangeas do not grow the big fluffy puff balls of flowers.



has this planet ever flowered big puffy balls?

When I bought it it had big fluffy balls. I planted it that year (probably 4 years ago) and since then it just looks like this. It might be the pruning thing because I have never really read how or when to prune one. The color is just so pretty I wish it would do what it should. Oh, it said to plant it in sun to part shade. It gets sun about 4 hours each day but the rest of the time it is shade.

[Scottie1972]

fishnthec, on 06 May 2012 - 12:08 PM, said:

When I bought it it had big fluffy balls. I planted it that year (probably 4 years ago) and since then it just looks like this. It might be the pruning thing because I have never really read how or when to prune one. The color is just so pretty I wish it would do what it should. Oh, it said to plant it in sun to part shade. It gets sun about 4 hours each day but the rest of the time it is shade.

pruning in the spring after the last frost is the thing to do.
normally, you will have green leafs on the base of the plant and what looks like dead branches
like this:

like a rose bush you need to prun these brances off during the first couple of weeks in spring before the warmer weather hits.

[mei lan]

If I'm not mistaken, if it was a hybrid plant (meaning the style you saw when you bought it was grafted onto an original plant of what you now see), then something could have happened to cause it to revert to its original state.

[Mrs G]

We have planted about 5 or 6, I hope they will live. We seem to kill everything

[MrsB]

Okay, I promise you, the only thing in the world I can grow is one of these. This fall, or late summer, when the blooms die (like, very dead) cut it off. When you have the "bare sticks", leave it alone, as it looks like that during winter and early spring. Petty much leave alone all the time. What you have is a Lacey variety, I don't think you'll get the pom poms like you thought. To make it hearty, mulch up around the base, don't hit the roots, and mix the native dirt with used coffee grounds and egg shells, and put it back down. It sounds nuts, I know, but they love it and it keeps 'em blue. Lastly, you do not need to water it unless we go a long time with no rain.

[MrsB]

Honestly, yours still looks very young. Don't cut the sticks, or the stalk, just the flower. And learn to love the lace. Lol I thInk it's beautiful.

I had to leave mine when we moved, but its what sold my renters. That and my jassemine and cheery tree. I'm tempted to make MrB go dig up my hydrangea and bing it here.

[Hillbilly]

The fluffy ones are called Endless Summer .

This post has been edited by Hillbilly: 06 May 2012 - 09:13 PM

[fishnthec]

MrsB, on 06 May 2012 - 07:29 PM, said:

Honestly, yours still looks very young. Don't cut the sticks, or the stalk, just the flower. And learn to love the lace. Lol I thInk it's beautiful.

I had to leave mine when we moved, but its what sold my renters. That and my jassemine and cheery tree. I'm tempted to make MrB go dig up my hydrangea and bing it here.

I do really love the color but I don't understand why it had big fluffy balls on it when I bought it and in the years since only the lace. I REALLY want to purchase some that I am sure will have the big fluffy white balls that last all summer. Are those the Endless Summer variety? Do you know if they will live and produce in the sun, or do they need shade?

[jjsmom]

I have one of the Endless Summer kind. I had it in a shaded area and it never really did good. When I moved it to an area that has about 5-6 hours of sun a day it has done alot better. This year it is covered in blooms. The blooms are pale blue though, so I am going to try the coffee grounds and egg shells that MrsB suggested.

[CarolineElizabeth]

I dont blame you OP- I like the big balls too.

[Hillbilly]

Iuse epsom salts to make mine a deeper blue.As fertilizer.

[confederaterose]

I have mophead's. They really have great big puffy flowers.

To keep them that beautiful blue color, I use Aluminum Sulfate.

[mysterymachine]

My understanding is morning sun, evening shade?

[Tired of Bovine Excrement]

There are some varieties that you are not supposed to prune if you want them to get larger as they get new growth on the dead stalks the next year. I have Penny Macs and they can grow on either new or old growth. The first year I had them I didn't know this and pruned them back. The next year they didn't get much bigger and didn't have many blooms. After that year I was lazy and didn't prune them. That spring I bought another one and saw the instructions said not to prune it for it to get larger and have more blooms. Sure enough, the ones I already had were bigger and had more blooms. Mine are located where they get slightly filtered afternoon sun. Maybe direct sunlight for about two hours. I had tried them in the front of the house where there is morning sun, and they didn't do well there so I moved them to the back. When we go more than a week without rain, they tend to wilt in the afternoon if I don't water them in the morning.