I'm looking for some advice, I noticed yesterday that she has begun budding and I'm not sure exactly what I should do, my Hydrangea did this last winter and she never bloomed over the summer, I dont want this to happen to this daisy, she has always been in a container for the 2 years I've had her, she spends the winter out on my screened in porch, I've only given her a small bit of water 2 times since I brought her in in late October after a hard freeze. Any thoughts & advice, Thanks y'all

Hi Christine,

Plants bud out when they (in their little plant minds) think all the requirements have been met for spring to be here. There's nothing you can do to stop them.

But there is no reason for early budding plants not to bloom this summer either. You will have to protect them from future hard freezes. A freeze could potentially destroy buds and prevent blooming or even kill the plant if it happens repeatedly.

Thank You Daisy, that's what happened to my Hydrangea last year, so now I know to protect them better when they start to bud.

I have a few hydrangeas that did the same thing this year (buds are semi green) due to temps going up/down and I piled extra winter protection since winter is still around.... although warm daytime temps remain in my area. Due to warm temps during the last few winters, this may be a futile effort (keeping it asleep)) but oh well...

I would bring the potted plant to a cold (but not too cold) place where the new growth will be protected further but where the cold may (hopefully) tell it to wait.. or do to this guy what you do to winter protect the hydrangea (pile dead leaves or mulch on/around it or etc...). You could bring it inside but with the warmth of the inside, it may continue its plans to open the buds now. At least, the flower buds would not get killed inside.