Growing Hydrangeas

Yes, you could bring it inside on cold nights and leave it out during the day. Keep in mind that in can be stressful on a plant to experience drastic temperature changes (cold to hot and hot to cold), so when you bring it inside keep it in a cool room. 

You can try overwintering it in a garage. But a hydrangea that thrived in a winter environment might not thrive in a garage. Give it moisture throughout the season (it would get it outdoors; don’t deprive it). Or could you cover it with, say a wooden “sandwich board”? You see these protecting foundation plants from time to time—something that would deter deer. There are several reasons for lack of bloom, often too much or too little sun. We hope this helps.

There is no way for us to know the particular variety of your hydrangea nor where to find one like it. Perhaps you will find notes or the like somewhere in the house! As for getting a match, there are hundreds to choose from these days and it’s likely that no one observing the property would know if you get “modern” replacements. But ask a local nursery person; they may know the heirloom varieties.

If you want more of the plant you have, here’s how to root it:

1. Take a 5 to 6 inch long cutting from a branch of the hydrangea shrub, ideally from a branch that did not flower this year.
2. Find the bottom two leaf nodes (the leaf node is where a leaf comes out of the branch) and remove the lower leaves. Most roots will form at this point.
3. Cut largest leaves down by about half.
4. Dip the cuttings in rooting hormone (if desired) and insert the hormone ends into damp vermiculite or sterile medium that you have put into a pot.
5. Water the pot well and allow it to drain. The soil should be moist but not soggy. Cover the cuttings and pot with plastic, creating a greenhouse effect. Use stakes (shish-kebab sticks may be adequate) to keep the plastic from touching the leaves.
6. Place the pot of cuttings in a bright but shady area. Do not place them in direct sun.
7. Water again only when the top of the soil begins to feel dry. Overwatering will cause the cuttings to rot. Expect cuttings to begin to form roots in 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the local temperature (they root faster in warm weather) and humidity. Some cuttings root in as little as one week. If you tug on the cutting and it resists the pull, it is rooting.

You can also try the ground layer method:

1. Select a branch (or several) close to the ground . Do not cut the branch off the mother plant.

2. Gently bend the branch down to touch the ground. Along the 5 to 6 inches of the branch where the branch, with at least one leaf node, will touch the ground, remove the leaves. Scrape a little of the bark off the underside of the branch in this area. Make sure at least one leaf node will be under the ground. 

3. Dig a little trench about 2 inches deep and lower the branch into it and cover generously with soil (use potting soil if desired).

4. Put a brick or stone on the buried portion of branch so that it will stay under the soil. This also helps to hold the moisture around the branch.

5. Keep the buried branch wet but not soaked. When roots form, cut the branch from the mother plant and lift it to plant it in the garden.

We hope this helps!

If your hydrangea has flowers similar to those of a smooth hydrangea, but doesn’t bloom on new stems, you likely have a bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). This variety is capable of blooming on old and new stems. Pruning should be done after flowers fade. See our page on pruning different hydrangea varieties for more information.

Potted florist hydrangea from a grocery store are not recommended for planting outdoors in the ground. They are not as hardy as the nursery cultivars.

However, you can still bring the pots outside until frost. When it comes to potted plants, keep them moist but don’t overwater which can lead to droopiness. If the soil is wet, let it dry out a bit before watering again. Also, weather that’s too hot can lead to droopiness so move the plants to a shaded area. If the plant remains wilted, it may have root rot and will not recover.

Usually, florist hydrangeas are considered short-term gift plants to be enjoyed and discarded. They are grown in a greenhouse for big showy flowers and the controlled forcing of flowers weakens the plant itself. If you wish to grow hydrangea outdoors, it’s best to purchase plants that are grown by a nursery for that purpose.

Did you prune the hydrangea properly? When you prune depends on the type of hydrangea. Did you have a freeze back in the spring this year? This is another common reason for lack of blooms. Hope this advice helps!

Hi Nick,

Hydrangea are hearty plants that will grow back when cut (even to the ground) during dormancy. However, a young, recently planted hydrangea like yours will not have as strong of a root system developed yet as a several year old plant would. Try waiting a while to see what happens during this summer: The plant might bounce back and start growing new shoots! If by next spring it’s still not doing well, plant another in its place. Good luck! 

Hi Karen,

Hydrangeas like some, but not full shade; it sounds like they could not be getting enough sun. You can transplant them, but wait until the fall to do it. Once all of the blooms have died and almost all of the leaves have dropped, transplant the hydrangeas into a slightly sunnier location with well-draining soil. Layer some compost around the base to give them an extra boost in the spring.

When hydrangea flowers begin with a color and fade to white, it’s usually an older bloom and past its prime for pollination.  However, you’re saying the flower was white from the very beginning? Our guess is that your plant was hybridized using a white blooming hydrangea with a pink/blue blooming hydrangea, and some of the plant is showing its original white. In this case, yes, it will stay white. White flowers can not be changed.

Do you know if you have lace cap or mophead hydrageas? The lace cap produce “flowers” that consist of teeny, tiny flowers surrounded (more or less) by substantially larger, usually four-petal flowers. Mopheads have the large balls of same-size flowers.  If that’s not what you’re dealing with, we can only suggest this: It could be as simple as too much shade or too much sun. It could be too much fertilizer, esp high nitrogen fertilizer, which will result in beautiful foliage but few if any flowers. It could be too much moisture—or too little moisture. And, how is the pH of the soil?? Have they got enough compost? Also, the blooming of hydrangeas is affected by how they have been pruned, which depends on the type of hydrangea. Some bloom on second-year wood, others on the current year’s growth.