My grandma has had this hydrangea for 3 or 4 years now, and it has not once bloomed except that tiny little guy in the picture...that is the first and only time. She was wondering what she is doing wrong. Last year she didn't cut it back in hopes that this year it would bloom but there's just that little guy. Any suggestions?

Just curious how much sun does it get? I had 2 Endless summer Hydrangeas that I dug and gave to my son, simply because it did not get enough sun...he planted it on a west exposure and now its doing great!

If it is the kind that only blooms on old wood and Winter kills it to the ground you will not get flowers. Might need some Winter protection.

I'm n NJ. Which is the heartiest Hydrangea for my area?

My plants didn't flower this year, either. Seems a lot of them in my area didn't bloom. With what should I fertilize them? In the spring or fall?

Also, is old wood the stalks that bloomed? Can I cut out the dead ones in the spring?
Sorry for all the questions, but I'm a "budding gardener!"

Panicle Hydrangea do well in this area. Pinky Winky has done the best for me. Also Incrediball has bloomed even after the worst Winters.I use Osmocote in the Spring.

NJBob said:Panicle Hydrangea do well in this area. Pinky Winky has done the best for me. Also Incrediball has bloomed even after the worst Winters.I use Osmocote in the Spring.

Bob , curious were the Incrediball flowers as large as they advertise? The

While not as large as advertised I think they say 12 inches, I would say over 8. But mine does not get any real direct sun at all.

Incrediball for me hasn't gotten to 12 inches either but the blooms are plenty big and very eye catching. They don't flop over onto the ground either which is great!!

Thats great, no flop!

If you want to obtain reliable bloomage from mopheads, you need to try several things: (1) remove dead wood in late May; if you have to prune for any other reason, only do so after they have bloomed but before July-ish... flower buds develop between July-August (August in the northern parts of the country) at the end of the stems so pruning in -for example- January would cut off the blooms for Spring 2017; (c) in northern cold climates, fertilize once in Spring only so the soil does not accumulate large amounts of nitrogen which makes hydrangeas develop nice, lush green leaves with few or no blooms; (d) transplant to get more sun if planted in dense shade (bright indirect shade is fine); winter protect in Zones 6 and less to get reliable bloomage by building a cage of chicken wire around the plant and packing it full of leaves, straw or mulch (really, really densely pack it if using leaves) such that you have several inches of leaves/mulch between the end of the stems and the "outside" or "top" of the cage. Remove the winter protection after all danger of late frosts has passed. (e) watch out for pests that like to eat the flower buds (deer, squirrels, bunnies, etc). (f) provide soil moisture as evenly as possible, make it moist not wet and definitely not dry for long periods of time, since periods of drought on/after July-August could cause the shrub to abort the flower buds. Adding 2-4" of mulch to the drip line or further can help with that.

Alternatively, grow in a pot and bring the pot into a garage or basement during winter (water every 2 or so weeks).

Some of the paniculatas I like are Limelight, Little Lime (more compact but blooms not as white as Limelight's), Pink Diamond, Quickfire, Little QF, Pinky Winky and either Strawberry Vanilla or Strawberry Sundae.

Have not tried a new mophead called Miss Saori that won a prize in Chelsea (just starting to appear on this side of the Atlantic):

https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-e...

http://www.thompson-morgan.com...

My lime light bloomed last year but not my Strawberry Vanilla. I have no idea why.

I would say that this specimen is hardening. At 4 years, I would guess that maybe she's tried to "help" it along which may have slowed the adaptation a bit but it appears fine.

I'd leave it completely alone. No pruning, let it winter under whatever leaves fall on and gather around it and just let it adapt to its location. It looks great, otherwise. A little pampered, perhaps, but healthy.

I'm not a big fan of pampering. Especially newly planted or young dudes. They're extremely busy exploring, designing their root system, meeting the neighbors and everything you try to do "for" them interrupts that development and slows down their evolution.

You don't say which direction is which but the single bloom definitely suggests that it's adapting. I'd just let it. Once it gets its sea legs, you'll be able to root some quite tough and hardy little guys from it.