Why do my hydrangeas die back to the ground every winter?

I have five hydrangeas: two on the east side of my house along the wall of the house, and three in a shade / part-shade garden on the south-west corner of the house, in the shade of a large thick-leaved maple tree. They all get morning sun (about five hours on the east side and three hours on the corner) and afternoon shade. This is the first spring for two (Blushing Bride that I paid $45 for and a blue lace-cap with variegated foliage, both on the corner bed) and the second spring for the rest. Every one of them died back to the ground over the winter. I waited extra-long to prune the dead stalks off, as I thought maybe I pruned too early last year, but still I only got new growth at the bottom. I also got hardly any blooms on any of them last year. All of them would look wilty and dreadful by the time the morning sun passed them by almost every day, regardless of how much I watered them, and the tips of the leaves turned brown. Too much water? Not enough water? Help!

Why do my hydrangeas die back to the ground every winter?
Hydrangeas are deciduous shrubs.





You have Hydrangea Blushing Bride which is a Hydrangrea macrophylla and it is deciduous. The lace cap is also a type of Hydrangea macrophylla. Deciduous means that they will die back in the winter, this is part of the normal growth cycle so do not be alarmed.





Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off" (deriving from the Latin word decidere, to fall off)[1] and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe. In a more specific sense deciduous means the dropping of a part that is no longer needed, or falling away after its purpose is finished. In plants it is the result of natural processes; in other fields the word has a similar meaning, including deciduous antlers in deer or deciduous teeth, also known as baby teeth, in some mammals, including human children.[


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deciduous





Hydrangea macrophylla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrangea_m...





Growing tips: http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/hy...


http://www.colorchoiceplants.com/hydrang...





Some plants are evergreen (do not lose leaves/foliage), some are semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen (lose some leaves/foliage) and the rest are deciduous (losing all leaves/foliage). Hope this helps. :)





EDIT: Oh, gotcha...why are they dying all the way down?? Perhaps you are losing all the stems because you are right on the border of where they are hardy to. And yes, they grow anew from the base. I'm in Z9 and so mine don't go right to the ground but I do clean up the base of them. I believe the woodier ones do not entirely die down (ex. H. petiolaris, H. quercifolia, H. paniculata) but to be completely honest I've never really paid attention to them in the winter.





And it does sound like you'll miss the blooms again this year if you pruned too late. So sorry! Maybe you'll get a few surprise blooms - plants are pretty resilient. :)





Here's another link about pruning: http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/prun...