I lost three Mopheads, two Oakleafs and Unique in this summer's draught. It's OK by me. I was tired of watering them twice a day and building cages stuffed with leaves around them in the fall. I'd have to keep bags of leaves around all winter to restuff them as the leaves compacted or blew out of the cages. In high winds the cages would blow over and break some of the shrubs's branches or uproot them no matter how well I anchored them.
The Mopheads that I have totally ignored in my deep shade and my part shade beds are all
Hydrangea macrophylla Glowing Embers. They were put in as very small, under 10" plants. My roadside bed was too dry and windy for them and they perished. But in my big back bed, they have grown nicely over the past 3 years. This year all of them have bloomed, no matter how deep the shade. These are smaller, more compact Hydrangea.
For some reason, this has turned out to be an excellent year here for Limelight, Pink Diamond, The Swan, PeeGee, and Pinky Winky. But the dryness has burned and wilted Lady in Red, PeeWee and Mariesii With the recent rain, Mariesii is recovering quite well.. I also noticed that the blooms on Annabelle were much smaller this year. Right now I'm wondering if I should cut some of the stems with burnt foliage and blooms off of Lady in Red.
