[Digs]

Ok so I have a few questions about hydrangeas. Why do they sometimes grow looking great except they dont flower at all? Secondly how much water should the plants get? I have a few hydrangea that are fallin over and are getting real sick lookin like brown leaves and stuff of that nature. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong here.
Thanks guys

[agla]

Time of pruning can have a lot to do with it. Some bloom on old growth and some bloom on new growth, so timing of pruning can mess things up. Having said that, I can't tell you which to prune when because I don't do maintenance and did not handle hydrangeas when I did.

Lots of others here will help you out on that.

[Greensmith]

Depending on the actual species of Hydrangea you can sometimes cut that year.

But if the plants themselves are showing ill foliage I would suspect something bigger. Watering, to much shade, to much sun. over/under fertilized.

[TrickyDick]

Most of the Hydrangeas we plant are H. macrophylla. They bloom on new growth that comes the previous years buds. So....the more of the previous years buds you prune off the fewer flowers you will get the next year. Also if you have a bad winter you can get a lot of stem dieback which will do the same thing. In NH I think most hydrangeas are borderline hardy. I would think that the plant dying back to the roots in a NH winter would happen as often as not which means you would get lots of new growth but no flowers.

Established plants rarely need watering unless you're in a real drought but what you're describing could be a water issue.

[Digs]

i put a spray head to just for these 2 plants. Water is probably not the issue. I just have never seen hydrangeas do this.

[TrickyDick]

Could be overwatering...or poor drainage. They definately don't like wet feet. Depending on how often you're watering they may not appreciate the overhead water from spray heads either. Could be disease or insect related but hydrangeas are not that troubled by anything in particular that I know of.

[Mark Oomkes]

And even the ones that bloom on old wood can get frozen back so they still won't bloom even if you don't prune them.

I'd think maybe the watering issue too. Never seen hydrangeas do that either, except maybe after a frost.

[Prolawns]

Are they near any black walnut or other allelopathic plants that may be influencing the growth?

[SodSquad]

I really dont think it would be too much water, every problem i've ever had with them has been due to a lack of water, they are very heavy drinkers!

[agla]

I've seen them get over watered.They do wilt and get a yellowed or even a red undertone to the stems and leaves.

[trees]

I would think that in this case the culprit is most likely late-season freezes. This will eliminate the flowers for the year.

This is the exact reason why the remontant Hydrangeas are gaining popularity. If I were you I'd switch to 'Endless Summer' or 'Penny Mac' or any of the other great new hydrangeas that bloom on new wood as well as old. I don't use much else these days. I've become particularly fond of an Endless Summer form called 'Blushing Bride'... great understated color. There's also a dwarf 'Penny Mac' called 'Mini Penny' that will fit smaller spaces well.

If you've ruled out all other cultural considerations, it's most likely climate (seeing that you're in NH it's probably not a stretch).

That's my 2 cents, anyway.

[Digs]

thanks for the advice! It may be because they got mistreated over the winter before I bought them.