How to tell if my hydrangeas are still alive?
The transformation from a flowering champion to a bundle of sticks can be shocking.There is a specimen of hydrangea.What strategy should you take?Do you remove the old stalks in the fall or wait until spring?Do you cut it down to the ground completely?
Is it worse that your hydrangea has actually died and not just become dormant?Some varieties of hydrangeas are not as cold hardy as those in the USDA zones 3 to 9.You may be facing the end of the line.
In the winter, hydrangeas lose their foliage and become inactive.Unless you have trimmed your bush back before the cold weather hits, a hydrangea bush in winter sports multiple stalks of varying heights, all bare; it does not die fully to the ground.
In the spring, the pile of sticks begins to grow, either off of a cane or from the crown.If you don't get any new growth by May, your plant may have experienced "winter kill," which is caused by too-cold, freezing temperatures and a drying wind.
The horticulturist and instructor at the New York Botanical Garden recommends that you scratch some stems with your fingernails.Some green can be seen under the bark if a stem is alive.If you can't find live stems or sprout from the base of the plant by late spring, you have a dead hydrangea.If you want a more cold-hardy variety, pull the plant out.
The USDA rates a plant's ability to just survive, i.e., whether its roots can make it through the winter.According to Ballato's article for the National Garden Bureau, many hydrangea varieties bloom only on 1-year-old wood, so you need to know if the stems can survive.What's the point if you can't get blooms from your hydrangea?She suggests that you check with a local nursery or extension service to make sure that the varieties you're looking for thrive in your area.
In the winter, hydrangeas lose their foliage and become inactive.If you don't trim your bush back before the cold weather hits, it will grow multiple stalks of varying heights, all bare; it does not die fully to the ground.It doesn't reflect on the health of the plant.
Fine Gardening states that to protect less-hardy hydrangeas, mulch them with leaf mulch, pine boughs or other types of mulch.Although a heavy snow or rainstorm can make the fabric so heavy that it can break the plant's branches, burlap wrap works well.
The sticks may hold the promise of next year's flowers, or they may just be sticks.Some varieties bloom on wood that has grown the previous season.According to Fine Gardening's guide to pruning hydrangeas, there are two types of hydrangea: Bigleaf and Oakleaf.Prune off the blooms after they begin to fade, not the year's canes.After the mature flowers fade, new buds that will be the basis of next year's flowers begin to form.