Endless Summer isn't so endless

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cedarswing Cedar Rapids, IA(Zone 5a) May 14, 2010

I bought 8 Endless Summer hydrangeas 3 years ago to line the driveway. They were about a foot tall in the pot at purchase. I realize Iowa isn't exactly Macro-friendly, but I expected them to get bigger than the 2'X2' that they have been the last 2 years. Is there any hope for them to get to 4'X4' in Z5a? Is all the "new growth only" every year going to keep them small? If so, I need to find some companion plants to fill in the space between them.

Also, just today bought a Quickfire and two Pinky Winky's at the local Theisens. Hopefully these perform as well as advertised. Can't seem to find many pictures that show them from a distance, for some idea of size and scale of mature bushes. I'd like to pair the PW's with the one lonely LimeLight I put in last fall. Anyone have experience pairing these two plants?

CS

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) May 15, 2010

There are a couple possibilities...one is that they're just following the "first year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap" rule of thumb that you see happen with some shrubs, which means that this year they ought to grow more for you. Or since you're in a colder zone they're probably dying back quite a bit every winter and having to completely start over again every spring, so if you protected them over the winter (a cage filled up with leaves, etc) then they may recover faster from the winter and get a bit larger. But there are other things that affect the size too--watering, fertilizing, etc.

Quickfire & Pinky Winky should do fine for you--they're hardier than the macrophylla's. As for pairing the PW's with Limelight I'm sure they'd be fine--just look up a few references that list their mature size and make sure you space them appropriately.

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cedarswing Cedar Rapids, IA(Zone 5a) May 15, 2010

I didn't want to cover the ESummers the first yr or two, to see if they made it through our winters. ( I do that with just about everything, cuz I don't enjoy babying everything through the cold). Since that experiment is over, I think some cages filled with leaves would be a good idea to increase size. Thanks!

I can't wait for the PinkyWinky's to get a few yrs on them... the pictures look fantastic.

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