Comments on: Endless Summer Hydrangea: Where’s the Blooms?

By: Kathy Purdy

Kathy Purdy — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:31:06 +0000

You need alkaline soil for pink flowers. You need acid soil for blue flowers. If you are applying fertilizer for both pink and blue, it seems to me you are neutralizing the soil and are just getting a middle-of-the-road mixed up color. If the shrubs that you want to bloom pink are separated by a good distance from the shrubs that you want to bloom blue, you can apply different fertilizer to the different groups, and have one group pink, and the other group blue. But you can’t have a group of Endless Summer shrubs be mixed pink and blue. They all share the same soil pH and will all be the same color, more or less.

By: Tricia

Tricia — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 03:41:09 +0000

I have 12 endless summer plants. This is their 3rd summer. In past summers I have had beautiful pink and blue flowers. This year lots of new growth, lots of flowers, no bugs but….. the blooms are not pretty pink and or blue but mostly a greyish pinkish color. I have used the mixtures for blue and pink color twice but only a few blossoms are pink and blue. Any ideas ??

By: Leslie

Leslie — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:59:45 +0000

Endless Summer hydrangeas do not bloom if over watered, whether rain or hand watered. We are in Zone 7b/8a. Tons of blooms in years past, but temps are lower this year and way too much rain result in fewer blossoms. We will take the rain and more days in the 80’s instead of high 90’s and 100’s, thanks. Leave your plants alone and mulch deeply and high on plant for the winter. Uncover after last frost, fertilize with 10-30-10 slow release every 3 weeks, water only if wilted in the a.m., and thank God for the rain. Happly blooming.

By: Gina

Gina — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:01:35 +0000

I also have no blooms on 4 plants that all bloomed well last summer. I live in zone 4 Vermont — its been a very rainy summer and not very hot, so I suspect that is part of the problem. I did prune mine in spring as well, but the old wood was dead anyway. I have tons of green foliage but no flowers. I keep hoping some will show in August. On the spots, we were hit by similar small black spots, and as someone else said, they are caused by the four lined plant bug. They are bright green bugs with black parallel lines, and do a real number on my butterfly bush, hydrangea, mint, lavender and oregano, among others. You can use pyretheum (sp?) based sprays to help get rid of them — we tried that and it has helped, although I think if we had done that earlier in the spring it would have been even better. I have also been told that neem oil early in the season helps to get the buggers before they mature, and that when cutting plants back in fall, you sould take the cuttings and bag them, because the bugs lay their eggs in “slits” in the woody stems of the plants for next year, so if you can cut them away and bag them, you may help avoid a problem next year.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:20:12 +0000

The reason they mention not cutting it down is because new buds form on the old wood. I understand your thinking though. Since it is so cold where you are (Zone 5), they will be killed off anyway early. I don’t know if covering them would help this or not. If not, then I agree, there is no point in not cutting off the old wood.

By: Donalyn

Donalyn — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:44:19 +0000

Interesting info Susan. Unfortunately, I can’t follow their advice about not cutting back to the ground, since mine dies back to the ground every winter. I have tried leaving the structure of the shrub in place, but no leaves grow last year’s wood at all – just new growth from the base of the plant. I am sure this has a great deal to do with the lack of blooms most years. I’m in zone 5, and you would think they would realize that no growth is going to occur on old wood. Do you guys up in these colder parts get growth on old wood, or does yours die back to the ground as well?
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By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:06:24 +0000

I just came across this great article on detailed tips for blooms on Endless Summer Hydrangea.
http://www.endlesssummerblooms.com/en/consumer/plants/bloomingsuccess

By: kathyg

kathyg — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:38:13 +0000

Looks like ‘four-lined plant bug’ damage to me; they do like the hydrangea family. Also fertilizing very early in spring with 10-30-10- or a similar product stimulates good blooming. I have found siting the plant with morning sun and afternoon shade works best for me here in NE WI. Also maintaining a good watering schedule not allowing the soil to dry too deeply. Even if it is rated for zone 4, I have found good winter protection will get the plant up and running earlier in spring for better growth and bloom. (Just my tips that work for me.)
kathyg
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By: Bloomin' Blogger

Bloomin' Blogger — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:29:40 +0000

The slugs and snails can make a mess of things, but I have found that spraying the plants with soapy water seems to deter then. I use about a teaspoon of dawn or joy in a quart of water and make sure to spray the leaves, stems and the ground beneath the plants. It does seem to work… so far. I am also having good luck keeping the deer away from my hostas and daylilies with Repellex. I am waiting for the deer to decide that they like the Repellex, but so far so good.
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By: Donalyn

Donalyn — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:21:48 +0000

Mine is getting huge this year because it loves the rain, and fortunately, no spots. No signs of blooming either though. It is still very attractive, and I’ll leave it so long as it still makes a nice foliage accent. We finally caved and put out snail bait everywhere because the snails and slugs were making such a mess of everything. I am putting in a couple PeeGees this year – I expect they will do much better.
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