Together Forever & Ever Hydrangea

Since I'll be digging these up this fall and replacing them, figured I could at least get a banner out of them before they get tossed. They're really fussy (for my zone 5 at least), die back to the ground unless fully covered to their tips, bloom only on new stems that grow from a few inches of old stems, if any survived winter that is. There is no 2nd bloom on new wood as advertised. And they wilt daily for 6 hours as soon as the sun hits them, no matter how moist the ground and how cool it is. It's a shame because the flowers on them are quite charming, but they're a real pain to even try and get to bloom (at least in my Zone 5).

You've laid out some actual experienced truths, bar none of the pretty adjectives. But it sure does make a cheerful banner. I guess it's not "Together Forever and Ever" for everyone.

Beautiful banner Nancy!

Well, you certainly did get a beautiful banner out of them!

Thank you everyone. The funny thing is I just dug these up today, I forgot today was this banner day. I did move them for now, mostly out of curiosity to see how they'll do without much sun hitting them. I don't think they'll flower at all, but it's hard to just toss 3 year-old plants, and the flowers are still on them from early July, they're turning a dark red now. But these just go against my preferred gardening of plant 'em and watch 'em grow without much fuss.

Yep! I hear you. How many Hydrangeas have I lost to the excessive heat and not enough water.

Murky said: Together Forever & Ever Hydrangea
Since I'll be digging these up this fall and replacing them, figured I could at least get a banner out of them before they get tossed. They're really fussy (for my zone 5 at least), die back to the ground unless fully covered to their tips, bloom only on new stems that grow from a few inches of old stems, if any survived winter that is. There is no 2nd bloom on new wood as advertised. And they wilt daily for 6 hours as soon as the sun hits them, no matter how moist the ground and how cool it is. It's a shame because the flowers on them are quite charming, but they're a real pain to even try and get to bloom (at least in my Zone 5).

Yikes! Hope you spare them.
Maybe they'd do better in a pot instead since they're a smaller variety.

E.g. azaleas, tree lilies, dahlias, & cannas do best for me in pots. I haven't tried hydrangeas in a long time, as they didn't thrive, but maybe a pot would make it work.

Beautiful banner, though!

Actually, this was the 4th year I've had them, I had to check when I planted them, fall of 2018. No amount of watering keeps them from wilting though. As soon as the sun hits them, even if it's only in the 60s, it's droopy-time until after 2pm when the sun is off them. Daily. I've no doubt they'd die in containers in my zone. Most all of the branches died off each winter even when heavily covered with leaves. This last winter, about 2" of the old wood at the very bottom survived on 1 of the 3, and those few inches of old wood put out new growth, and finally gave me blooms for the first time from that new growth. They're just not worth that amount of hassle to me. I try to plant things that are pretty much maintenance free other than a yearly fertilizing or occasional trimming.