The east side of the house there gets sun until about 1:30-2 pm. But those hydrangeas are already wilted by 10 am on a sunny day. And then they perk right back up as soon as they're in shade. I think I'd have to water them daily to stop the wilting.

I thought of moving them to the north side of my garage where they'd get zero sun, but figured they'd never bloom there, so I'm going to save myself any further aggravation and just toss them if they still wilt this summer and don't produce massive blooms at least towards fall. I'm pretty certain at this point that most of the old stems from last season are dead, so I'm not expecting a spring/early summer bloom from old wood.

I've read somewhere to not water hydrangeas are wilting I. The middle of the day, wait until the next morning, and if they're still wilted, then water. Not sure if that's right.

gardenfish said: I've read somewhere to not water hydrangeas are wilting I. The middle of the day, wait until the next morning, and if they're still wilted, then water. Not sure if that's right.

That's exactly what I decided to do last summer after I saw them perk back up once in shade without any watering. It's either the soil heating up that the roots don't like, or the sun itself. There's no way I'm watering in-ground shrubs every morning. I haven't watered the Annabelles since the first fall when I planted them, just to get them settled in.

It's been a few weeks since I removed the liriopes. Babies are STILLLL popping up!!

plasko20 said: I had to dig out a couple of hydrangeas I hated (Nikko Blue, I hate you) and I have to say it is hell-on-earth.
One I love (only gets 3ft high and wide), is the Summer Crush Hydrangea. A really saturated hot-pink color. And it adores sunlight, apparently.

Edited to add that I have never seen a hummingbird near my weigelas. But if you go for that, get one with red flowers (e.g. Sonic Bloom). They are attracted to red, I think.

What was it about Nikko Blue that you hated? I'm not considering it for this spot at all, but I was interested in it years back but I decided to put good ol' reliable never-fails Annabelles. Plus I love the old fashioned types of flowers and shrubs.

And Sonic Bloom is one of the weigelas on my list. After the Together Forever & Evers though, I'm a bit worried about going with anything that hasn't been around for half a century!

I prefer many of the older garden plants. Not saying I wouldn't try something that just came out! Sometimes the older ones are the better ones, IMO.

The Nikko Blues came with the house.
The prior owners crammed too many huge things into a small area. It was nuts. So densely packed I couldn't even see what was in there. Just wall-to-wall leaves.
I got rid of a crammed Nikko one summer (took forever to get it out).

The other I left alone for a couple of years. First year, not impressed by the color (not so blue, a kind of ugly pale baby-blue color) or number of flowers. So then that year I fed it, cared for it, adjusted the pH etc. Next year many more flowers but still not impressed by the color. Plus it was still so huge and it was at the front so hogging all the light. I got rid of it in the fall (well, most of it).

I put an Encore Azalea on top of it. Which seems very happy. And lets the light get behind it for some other fun stuff I planted.

Lesson learned - do not put big things at the front (if facing south).

All photos I've seen of Nikko Blue show a very nice blue shade, not what you described. I'm so glad I passed on them and went with Annabelles!

I'm about to put another 4 cu ft of mulch on the Together Hydrangeas. Even though I'm 99% sure I'll be replacing them in the fall, the mulch will help the soil. I'm pretty set right now on either Bobo or Little Lime and found a nursery not too far that carries both of them. Thanks for the recommendation.

There is a Hydrangea that is suffering to the left of our front entrance. Compared to the one on the right, I'm not sure why they planted it there.

I may start regrettting Tall Goldendrod, but at least it's easy to remove

Had to laugh at Orion, my whole front YARD faces South! This becomes A problem when planting certain plants that like to grow bigger than their tag says they will.
I have been a accused of specifically growing tall plants to wall off my yard from anyone looking inside. Guilty as charged. When I'm sitting on the porch no one can see me!

Astrantia.

Selfs seeds everywhere, no matter how much you (try) to keep on top of deadheading. It's a nuiscance and one more for the compost bin.

Huh! I still want one

Lynda I am currently doing the same wall of plants in a small area on the north side where the fence ends due to my neighbor's yard being so wide open. Astrantia reseeds for sure. Mine took several years before it started doing that. I cannot say this enough. Everyone don't plant Anemone Sylvestris in your gardens. It will become your worst nightmare. If you insist on growing it, come and dig it for free in my garden

I regret planting Baptisia and Amsonia. They look like huge weeds and multiply and crowd out my other plants. I even tried Round-up on the Baptisia, and they still came back. LOL.

I love baptisia, but they sure do need a lot of room! They put down a loooong taproot, which is why they came back for you, Clint.

Clint's weeds are better than some of my cultivated plants!

I know I said it before, but Callisia repens. I'm raking up buckets of it. Appreciate the OM to compost but the return on effort per energy investment isn't that great when harvesting this plant.

Yes !! Try digging up established Baptisia. We all need land the size of Frank's to plant whatever we want.

I'm too old to take care of that many acres of land. It's all I can do to take care of what Ive got.

I think I have lost this battle with Callisia repens.

Oh my god, so much! :0