Hydranga's not flowering

Hi,

I planted three hydrangea's last fall, in an area that gets lots of morning sun.

One of them was in my garden, when we bought this house. It never thrived (was in an area with terrible dirt, where the deer could eat it), so I pulled it & put it in a pot (just in case it wanted to live) & to my surprise, it grew like crazy & gave me wonderful flowers for three years, until this year, when I planted it in a spot which I thought would be ideal. It has lots of lush growth, but no new flowers.

The other two, I bought last fall & planted. They're both very lush. One has three flowers growing on foliage at the bottom of the plant - ie. underneath lots of leaves. The other has had no flowers.

I thought the new ones might need second year growth to bloom,(the nursery told me to cut back 1/3 of the bush each year), but am completely puzzled about the one which bloomed faithfully in its pot the past few years. I have a small starburst hydrangea I planted in a pot in the same location, this spring, & it's starting to flower, so I'm pretty sure the conditions are favorable.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks much!

Liz

My guess is they're just taking time to get their roots going again. If you did cut some of them back in the fall before planting that would also prevent them from blooming, but even if you didn't it's very normal for some shrubs not to bloom their first year after they're planted (and for your one that was blooming happily in a pot, transplanting it into the ground will make it start over again establishing its roots in the new location so it's in the same situation as the others). My experience with hydrangeas that I've planted in the fall is that some of them will give me a few blooms the following year but some won't even though I treated them all the same and planted them in the same area. So just be patient--assuming you don't cut them back this fall you ought to get at least a few blooms next year, and an even better show the year after that. (There's a saying "first year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap" which describes how many shrubs will behave after being planted/transplanted)

Thanks very much Ecrane. Your comments make a lot of sense.

I know the hydrangea that came with the house blooms on new wood, because I've trimmed it every year it was in the pot, (the branches would be so long & heavy with flowers that they drooped to the ground) & it bloomed every year until now.... I 'll probably trim out a third of the branches on all the bushes - they could use some shaping - ie. I'll get rid of the branches that are going sideways on the ground, instead of upright. Does that sound like the way to go?

Thanks again!

Liz

If it's one that blooms on new wood then prune away! It's only the ones that bloom on old wood that you need to be careful about your timing.

Thanks again, Ecrane. I do appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge!