Another Hydrangea Question

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Melissande Chillicothe, OH Jul 03, 2008

I really don't have a good place on the east-side of my house for a hydrangea, the west side is the only choice. I had planned to plant this hydrangea I bought (a small one in a 1 g. pot) right by where the faucet exits the foundation, because this spot never fails to be wet--I've never bought a hose connection that didn't leak, have you?>--from all the times I water the rest of the flower beds. Tight up against the foundation of the house there's enough shade for columbines, and the soil's a tad acidic as well, I thought it might be a feasable spot. Tight up against the house the plant might get less than 5 hours of sun, but of course it's going to be a much hotter, more intense less than 5.

Suggestions? Ideas? Might it help if I rig up some shade for the rest of this year and maybe use root stimulator/fert to help it get well established? I'm presuming if it gets well established and I protect it through the winter it'll have a better chance of living to bloom a few years from now, and perhaps outlive the need to baby it through the summer? I know I'll always have to bundle it up for the winter, but I have roses I'll have to coddle, so this'll just be one more.

This message was edited Jul 3, 2008 6:40 AM

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jul 03, 2008

What kind of hydrangea is it? If it's a macrophylla (the common sort with the pink or blue flowers) then I think that'll be too much sun for it. 5 hours of morning sun might be manageable but a little less than 5 hours of afternoon sun may be too much for it unles it's filtered a lot by trees or something. (I'm thinking of its long-term happiness here, not just getting it through this summer...I think that much PM sun will be too much in subsequent years as well). Hopefully someone from your zone can chime in with some experience though, hydrangeas could handle more afternoon sun in your climate than they could in other parts of the country. But assuming I'm correct that it's too much sun, Hydrangea arborescens would be a better choice for that area, it can handle more sun (and also has the advantage of blooming on new wood, so you won't have to protect it over the winter as you will with many of the macrophyllas) I also am not sure about the area always being wet...hydrangeas are definitely not drought tolerant plants, but while they like regular water I'm not sure they like permanently wet feet so depending on how wet that area is that is something to think about as well.

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