Hydrangea Macrophylla 'Endless Summer'

Discussion in 'Annuals, Biennials, Perennials, Ferns and Bulbs' started by mjacob, Aug 11, 2009.

  1. mjacob

    mjacob Member

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    I bought an hydrangea macrophylla 'endless summer' 2 years ago. The first summer the hydrangea was in a pot on a deck. It grew very well and had lots of blooms, but after a very few weeks the blooms started to turn brown. The next year I planted it in the garden in an area that had sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. The same thing happened. I was very disappointed since I was expecting an 'endless summer' of blooms. Has this happened to you and what do you suggest I do?
     
  2. joclyn

    joclyn Rising Contributor

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    did you dead-head the blooms after they faded?? did you fertilize?? are you giving it enough water??
     
  3. levilyla

    levilyla Active Member

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    I have found that somtimes ES has become Endless Bummer. It is not what is was cracked up to be as far as I am concerned. In my area by the time the NEW buds start the frost comes. You are not suppsed to have to fertilize Hydrangeas....just make sure it is well drained and gets some sun (am preferrably). I got three Hydrangea "All Summer Beauty" about three years ago at the HD. They have NEVER bloomed. Sorry I can't help much.
     
  4. gardentastic22

    gardentastic22 Member

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    I work at a nursery, and when ever we've gotten them in they only seem to have a few flowers that only last a few weeks or have none at all. Regular fertilizer for your hydrangea's will help with the length and size of flowering though. Your probably best to stick with the normal hydrangea macrophylla's as old fashioned is usually the best and toughest.
     
  5. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    There is another thread on Hydraenga's and caring for them going on at the moment, but I always dead head mine in the autumn and prune them right back, giving them a good feed as contrary to what you stated there they can be heavy feeders depending on the soil. I then as soon as i notice the buds starting in March/April time start to feed mine with Miracle grow every two weeks or so, then by end of April its sprung back into life and got all bushy again. They also like lots of water around end of June they normally start to bloom and by July are magnificent, some of the flowers will strat to brown in August but you should have healthy blooms through September even into October then they will brown off ready for pruning end of november or you can leave the dead flowers until Feburay and then prune as some old gardeners around here do, but its all in the feeding and the pruning.

    Nath
     
  6. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Note that Endless Summer is a marketing device and not a plant.

    http://www.baileynurseries.com/endlesssummer

    The sterile mophead cultivar you are probably talking about does not produce seeds, therefore dead-heading it will not prevent the use of energy for seed production. And even with a plant that did produce seeds dead heads snipped off in autumn would have already produced seeds, so that cutting these then would have no effect on subsequent flowering. Overwintering flower buds producing the first flush of bloom the following year on a bigleaf hydrangea would also have already been set.

    I suppose deadheading a mophead hydrangea early in the summer might affect subsequent flowering that same season due to the maturing flowerheads producing inhibiting chemicals as they might if they were still able to produce seeds. I do not know if this phenomenon occurs in bigleaf hydrangea. Bailey nursery advocates deadheading of their long-blooming mophead hydrangea to encourage subsequent flowering, but I wonder if it really does anything more than tidy the plants.

    Fertilization needs of all plants always vary with the conditions on each individual planting site.
     
  7. Nath

    Nath Active Member

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    Ron B I have always pruned mine back in november as the leaves start to fall off them around that time especially when the first frosts come, the stems become cane like and dry and brittle anyway so can be cut back a bit leaving established wood where the new buds will sprout from. We were always taught that they produced better blooms the next year that way, and it deos seem to work, even when cut right back to a small few straggley canes in the spring it always comes back stronger, bigger and bushier than the previous year with more blooms. As to seeds, I have never seen any on a Hydraenga before, I know Hollyberry Lady asked that question on the other thread about Hydreangas, I suppose it may depend on the variety one has. I havent looked into how you propogate them either as there is always a plentiful supply to be had in the local garden centres. i must look it up some day. As to feeding they never look as good as when one neglects to feed them i have found and it prevents the rust or black spot spreading from the roses on to the leaves of the hydreanga which can be a common problem here in the UK.

    Nath
     

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