Source
r/Minnesota_Gardening•
mnchemist

Endless summer hydrangeas

Hi All,

Last fall we planted a couple endless summer hydrangea plants and several boxwood bushes. While all but one of our boxwoods have started to return to life, none of the hydrangeas have. Is it too early still? How long should we wait to see if they survived the winter? Our well-established hostas have already started popping out of the ground too, which is also making me think that perhaps there’s no hope for the hydrangeas.

If it matters, we live in a first ring suburb of the cities.

Posted May 1, 2023, 1:19 PM UTC

510
Sometimesummoner•

I'd give it another few weeks. I have 2 well established ES hydrangeas and one just showed the first signs of a bud this morning, while the other started to bud late last week.

Sunshine, soil temperature, wind exposure, any salt they took over the winter can all play a part in when they wake.

6
mnchemistOP•

Thanks!

1
realmaven666•

Too early for sure

2
LEOtheCOOL•

It took like 3 years for my endless bummer to produce a bloom.

1
mnchemistOP•

I’m not so worried about blooming yet. I just haven’t seen any new growth on the plants yet. They still look pretty dormant so, I was wondering if they should have started new growth by now or not?

1
LEOtheCOOL•

On mine, a few of the leaf buds are just barely starting to push out right now.

1
mnchemistOP•

Thanks!

1
AgitatedStick1116•

I agree with the too early comments. Give it some time :) i would say at least until you're seeing other shrubs seriously leafing out. Possibly even early June with how prolonged our winter was here.

Fwiw, I've worked with these extensively out at a nursery, and unfortunately, the endless summer hydrangeas don't have a stellar track record for most Minnesotan growers (fussy on care, essentially the plant is zone hardy but their flower buds aren't so when it does survive it often doesn't flower). Just know that any problems are likely the plant's fault, not yours 😉

1
mnchemistOP•

Thanks! We'll give them some time. I'm so surprised that they don't have a great track record since everything I've read about them say you can pretty much neglect them and they'll be just fine. That was part of the appeal of buying them! LOL

1
AgitatedStick1116•

Right?? 😭😭

1