# Why I dislike Endless Summer and other pink/blue hydrangeas



## Lawndress (Jul 9, 2020)

This is specific to zone 7 and lower. These plants can still be beautiful in mixed borders, but they make terrible foundation shrubs because they are ugly in winter, and because they need old growth to make good blooms,.you can't cut them back until you know what is really dead. In addition, though they are also supposed to bloom on new wood, which is what makes them "endless", their new wood blooms are pathetic compared to their old wood blooms, so any winter that freezes too hard will result in pathetic blooms the next year, which is not what the nursery claims.

Bush 1. Gorgeous blooms, right?



Bush 2. Same.



This one between them for some reason got hit harder by the winter. I have no idea why. It's sheltered and the winter wasn't particularly hard.



So this is what the 3 together look like. Some years, they all look like the middle one. Some years, all like the outside ones. It's hit and miss. Too much miss for a foundation shrub.



And yes, I desperately need to prune my camellias, but they have already set blooms so I can't do it until next winter.


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

Ours are poppin this year, probably bc we didn't do ANY pruning on them. But they also need an ideal planting location ...good early morning/afternoon sun with late-afternoon shade. The ones that get full sun tend to get droopy on us.


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## Lawndress (Jul 9, 2020)

corneliani said:


> Ours are poppin this year, probably bc we didn't do ANY pruning on them. But they also need an ideal planting location ...good early morning/afternoon sun with late-afternoon shade. The ones that get full sun tend to get droopy on us.


Nope. I do no pruning until they start to bloom. Yours are "popping" because of luck: they didn't get too cold over the winter. Usually all 3 are "popping" or none are, depending on the winter, but this time, the middle one decided that it needed to get winter damage. The other two look fabulous.

They stopped getting droopy years ago because they are now well established and no longer need supplemental water. If they are in the right place, they are very low maintenance. That's why you will see them in Georgia going bonkers in an unirrigated somewhat shady lawn down by the mailbox when the rest of the lawn is brown.


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## Lawndress (Jul 9, 2020)

I just realize that you live in Atlanta. My dislike is specific to the COLDER ZONES that the Endless Summer hydrangea and other reblooming pink/blue hydrangeas are marketed towards.

These are marketed towards people in zones where this type of hydrangea usually has an unreliable bloom because the new cultivars can bloom on new wood. The new cultivars are marketed as this meaning that they can take more cold and then still bloom well. They do not and cannot. They will bloom SOME on new wood, especially later in the season, and so this is a great bonus for people in areas where these hydrangeas already do well. But they are not really much more reliable for people in the colder zones that they are specifically marketed to.

The issue of how long they look ugly is much reduced in warmer zones, too, where they green up much faster and go dormant much later.

When you live in literally the ideal state for these hydrangeas, no, you're not going to have a problem with their bloom reliability.


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

I didn't think about them being perfect for our region ... the days get so hot sometimes that anything more than morning sun just cooks them alive! But I can see your point from the winter harshness perspective and how that affects their buds. I guess you can always protect plants from the sun but short of wrapping them you're at nature's whim with winter weather. Mulching can only do so much.

My wife does cut-flower arrangements and this was today's. Gods creation is something else!


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## nnnnnate (Apr 23, 2020)

I planted 4 panicle hydrangeas this year. One firelight, and three limettas. I had bought limelight primes but gave them to my neighbor cause the limelights they ordered got pretty torched in shipping. I planted theirs and while they certainly don't look great I do see some new growth albeit only a little. I'm hoping they can make it and I'll get some blooms next year.

Are these they type you're talking about? I'm in Salt Lake so we do get cold winters.


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

I'm in zone 4b here in VT and probably have 15 Annabelle Hydrangeas, bunch of Limelight, and a bunch of other Panicle Hydrangeas. They look great every year. They all bloom on new wood, which really is the only option here in VT. Those endless summer types that bloom mainly on old wood have no chance here. They can be hit or miss in some warmer zones too as the OP noted. I would stick with Hydrangeas that bloom on new wood only if your in colder areas. I always laugh at local Home Depot having rows of Endless Summer Hydrangeas here that look so nice and blue in the pots that come straight from the greenhouse.


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