Northeast Gardening: Happy Birthday Victor!!!!, 1 by bbrookrd

bbrookrd wrote:
Like Victor's Hydrangea quercifolia, the DDeer use to get most of our buds until we fenced them out. We started with one in 1983 and have propagated many others from it over the years. They send up shoots that are almost invasive. I have no idea of which one it is, They are almost all planted on the sunny south side of house in sandy acidic soil with nominal watering. We do mulch the beds with cedar and fertilize the beds with general 10-10-10 or Osmocote. I know they hate wet feet as I gave one to someone who planted it too close to a stream and it killed it immediately. The next one thrived in a dryer spot for them. I prune them as needed right after they bloom (late July) as they set their next years blooms on old wood. We keep most of them at around 6 feet tall, but we have let one grow to 10 to 12 feet. It is pretty spectacular. That one gets a little shade from the overhanging cedar. We have planted a few in semi shady areas, but they are just a few years old, so not sure how they will do in the long run. They have bloomed, they are just not full bushes yet. We take off the previous years flowers in the early fall, though I think that is not necessary, but I think they look better without them once they go brown. You may be just getting a lot of winter dieback from your much colder zone than me that is destroying the bud sets. Not much help. Patti