Sunday, May 16, 2010

Is my hydrangea dead?

I live in wi zone 3 my hydrangea 'endless summer' looks completely dead? it doesn't seem to have any leaf buds. should i toss it or may it just take longer? i have an 'annabelle' thats all ready leafed out. i didn't use any mulch over the winter. Should i do that and what type of mulch? Thanks!

Is my hydrangea dead?
My hydrangeas has sprouted about 3 to 4 inches. I have five or six varities including Endless Summer which is doing just fine. I live near Chicago. I would say that your plant is pretty much gone.





I always much these plants. However, it depends on the variety of plant you have, some are hardy and survive even the worst freezes. Others, you need that mulch protection cover to survive.





My guess is your plant got a disease and lost its root structure. You might dig out one side and see if it has live roots. If the roots are rotted, the plant is gone. And if there are healthy looking roots, leave it in there for a while and see if it will pop.





Here we had in the 80s then it went into a two week freeze and lots of plants including cherry trees suffered a lot of damage. Did you check your plants to see if maybe they took off before a freeze.





On mulching, careful on bark because that might contain diseases and insects. So I do not use bark on plants like that. I use Sawdust. Sawdust is the safest and best mulch to protect against freezing that there is . Pet stores sell sawdust and its also used in Horsebarns. Straw is about useless, unless you top the straw with a couple inches of dirt.





If you bought that from a nursery, those places usually have a lifetime warranty on plants. Lowes and Meijer are one year with the receipt.
Reply:take a small cutting off a branch if its green inside its still alive. and just still in a dormant state .
Reply:Leave alone the 'endless summer' hydrangea and see if it sends up new shoots from its crown. The top of the plant may have been killed in winter, but the roots and base (crown) of the plant may still be alive. If its not doing anything by June, its dead.


You should use mulch. Types of mulch include the traditional chunks of bark used in landscaping, or dead leaves, or pine boughs, or straw. You could even top this off with a tarp (for plants whose tops die between growing seasons).
Reply:My hydrangeas did the same thing...I left them a little longer and now have new growth coming from the bottom. I would wait a little longer and see.
Reply:I have the exact variety of hydrangea. Wait longer. I am in zone 6 and have small leaves at the crown about 1 inch. Once it does start to sprout, the portion of cane that doesn't sprout can be trimmed.
Reply:First of all all hydrangeas are not the same. I know they thrive in my area ( zone 7) but there are more than 100 species of Hydrangea, and with many subspecies. There is a huge variation in size, flower type, and cold hardiness within the species, which make it hard to generalize if yours was one that could withstand extreme weather. Give it a little more time. With winters being really cold where you live , if it was mulched well, then it may come out from the root. If not then better luck next time. Pine mulch or pine needless will help to protect plants from the cold in winter.

ben

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