that is beautiful.... I fell in love the the oak leaf several years ago when ron & i stayed at a bed/breakfast in vicksburg.... so i bought one... now i have 4.....i want a hundred.... when i was driving to get my g/niece yesterday... i noticed they were all on the road side to where i use to live... and isn't that funny... i never saw them before.... i know they grown wild nearly everywhere...i got a couple of mine from the woods at a campground.... don't tell..........
I have hydrangeas around my house and on the property line with my neighbor. I have no trouble growing them now. In the beginning I did not realize how much water and shade they need, and it did not gow much.
Now i have a late top hydangies growing under my magnolia and snowballs growing under the pine trees. They are in shade all day long. They need a good long drink almost every day during the long hot Georgia summer. Fertilizer helps, too. Most of all, water, an dmore water. A drip system is best. I don't have any watering sytem in my yard, so I let the hose dribble on this plant for a couple hours at a time, as the slowest dribble that I can manage.
This week I bought anotehr one from the grocery store. It is a little on the sad side, but I think I can save it. It is easier than trying to root a cutting. I am not so successful at cuttings and seeds.
Sorry to say that the little pink "houseplant" did not make it. NOT because of the weather or the heat but they had a storm come through that took out a tall oak next to the house, between it falling on the bush and the tree cutters and their chipper and Bobcat, it is no more. I'll try again next year maybe.
I love hydrangeas. I planted two in my backyard and had to dig them up and put in planters and put them on the porch. Now I have hibiscus back there. My backyard is a project in process. This summer I had a patio put on the back porch. I love it, but it is too hot to use it until it cools down. I am trying to find plants to put out there to cut down on grass. I have to mow it myself, and it gets to be a real problem with the heat. Yesterday I had the neighbor boy do it. I would like to put roses around the patio, but don't know yet if that would be a good idea.
Our fall has been very long this year in the Boston area. I got a rare treat: oak-leaf hydrangeas turning these gorgeous dark reds. Usually the hard frosts do them in before they turn here. I'm even seeing the Mediterranean hydrangeas occasionally turn a dark red in November and fade away into yellow instead of seeing their leaves destroyed by a hard frost. Now if only the tips harden off enough! They never do here this far north in the land of severe winters.
I figure the southern summer heat would be too much for Mediterranean hydrangeas (they like the marine moderate European summer), and I don't ever see our more conventional kind in the south (the ones with the flowers that tum pink in September). But oak-leaf, if it is in the shade and gets LOTS of water in the summer, will do fine.
Thanks for the info paeanhera. I'm considering trying an oak-leaf hydrangea because I had heard somewhere else that they handle southern summers better, as well as alkaline soils.
Can't wait to plant hydrangeas here. Had some in Maine. My yard here is mostly shade and am trying to find all the flowering shade plants I can. I'm in North Carolina (zone 7). Can I plant hydrangeas here now? Really confused about planting seasons here, only been here since September. Not used to planting anything in December (usually have a couple inches of frost in the ground by now with snow on top!)
By the way....you garden is beautiful!
Thanks. I really don't know about planting them in December. I would suggest that you contact the County Extension Agent or a local nursery for advice on that. Being in the area they could give you the best advice. Good plantings. Look forward to pics soon.
