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Avatar for AnitaAnderson
Sep 14, 2016 4:30 PM CST
Thread OP

I have a blue hydrangea out front, it bloomed.
I have 2 hydrangeas on the side of the house, one pink, one blue,
they both didn't bloom! Last year they did. Why?

I feed them miracle grow once/month.
I must need bone meal or something else to help them for next year.

Also, tell me how far down and WHEN do I prune them back?
My brother told me to leave the ones with blooms dying down on the wood alone ...they were very long
stalks in the spring ...I don't know. I didn't do something right.

Please help. S.O.S.
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Sep 14, 2016 6:31 PM CST
Name: Donna King
Selmer, TN (Southern West TN) (Zone 7b)
Hummingbirder Garden Ideas: Master Level
Did you cut them back last fall after they died back for winter??
The Hooterville Hillbilly @ Hummingbird Hill
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Sep 14, 2016 6:58 PM CST
Name: Bob
Vernon N.J. (Zone 6b)
Aquarium Plants Bookworm Snakes Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Heucheras
Echinacea Hellebores Dog Lover Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Hostas Region: New Jersey
A lot of them only bloom on old wood so if you pruned them they will have no flowers, or if you live in a cold area they can die back to the ground.
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Sep 14, 2016 8:46 PM CST
OH (Zone 5a)
Hostas
My hydrangeas bloom on old wood and I do not trim after seeing buds develop early summer.
This Spring had a surprise late freeze 2 days and killed all buds. Never had that before in 15 years. I will pay more attention to Spring temps now and cover them.
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Sep 15, 2016 5:01 PM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
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In the spring when they are leafing out but you can still see the stems well, trim for shape & to remove the then obvious dead spots.

The front of this shrub was trimmed, the back left to its' own devices, to show the difference a good shaping/pruning can make. The naked length of stem & dead bits are distracting & unnecessary. After you do it a few times, you'll get the hang of it.
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
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Sep 15, 2016 5:32 PM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
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If your hydrangeas are the kind that bloom on "old wood" that means they will bloom next year on the growth that they put on this year. So DON'T prune the ones that didn't bloom. Not at all, until they bloom again. Then just prune off the spent blooms when they finish and turn brown.

The most common reason for hydrangeas not blooming is pruning too late, so stems that were getting ready to bloom were cut off. Or, as Pandora said, if they freeze back in the spring, that can also "prune" the new growth where the blooms would be.

So the explanation of why the one in front bloomed and the ones on the side of your house didn't might be as simple as temperature. If it stays warmer at night on cold nights out front (is it the south side of the house?) then that hydrangea may have been protected enough but the others weren't.

Keep a "weather eye" on the temperatures in spring when the buds are coming along, and cover those bushes on the side of the house with something like an old sheet or blanket if a late frost threatens. (don't use plastic! It doesn't help)
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." โ€“Winston Churchill
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Sep 16, 2016 8:57 AM CST
Name: Tiffany purpleinopp
Opp, AL @--`--,----- (Zone 8b)
Region: United States of America Houseplants Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Sages Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Organic Gardener Composter Miniature Gardening Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Tender Perennials Butterflies
Yes, that's why one would wait until they leaf-out in the spring. There's no reason to look at dead material sticking up and out between the pretty blooms. When it's obvious where the most vigorous nodes are on each branch, any puny ones beyond it can be removed, so the tip of each branch ends in gorgeous flowers.

Unless a Hydrangea is planted where it doesn't have enough room, they don't require heavy pruning at all. Certainly not enough pruning that all of the nodes that are prepared to bloom would be removed.
The golden rule: Do to others only that which you would have done to you.
๐Ÿ‘€๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜‚ - SMILE! -โ˜บ๐Ÿ˜Žโ˜ปโ˜ฎ๐Ÿ‘ŒโœŒโˆžโ˜ฏ
The only way to succeed is to try!
๐Ÿฃ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ”๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿพ๐ŸŒบ๐ŸŒป๐ŸŒธ๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒน
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now. (-Unknown)
๐Ÿ‘’๐ŸŽ„๐Ÿ‘ฃ๐Ÿก๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿ‚๐ŸŒพ๐ŸŒฟ๐Ÿโฆโง๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‚๐ŸŒฝโ€โ˜€ โ˜•๐Ÿ‘“๐Ÿ
Try to be more valuable than a bad example.
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Sep 16, 2016 9:31 AM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
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Welcome! Anita. One thing I'm wondering about is whether these were only planted last year because one was pink and one was blue. That suggested to me that they were newly purchased otherwise the colours would have been closer as they adapted to the soil pH. It sounds like they were not pruned last year since Anita's brother said leave them alone. In that case I wonder if they are growing in a zone too cold for them as Elaine suggested. It would help if we knew where they were growing and what their names are. The blue and pink ones are typically not as hardy as others.
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