brown edges on Hydrangia leaves.

I planted two Hydrangias this spring, one blue, one lavender. They are getting some sun in the morning and some in the evening-but not a lot. The blue one has developed brown edges that curl on some of the old leaves. Both have developed new growth but they are not blooming! Will Eptson Salts really make them bloom? I live in Alamance County, North Carolina and don't know what region this is.
Maybe I should add that I'm a new gardener; this is my first year of trying to plant anything but Hostas and tomato plants. And now, my tomatos will not ripen. I have loads of green tomatoes. Maybe I just don't have a green thumb and just leave the gradening to those that do! Can someone tell me what to do?!?! Carol

I wouldn't worry about the not blooming part, that's most likely not a problem at all. Two possibilities--one is that many plants will work on getting their roots going first before they think about blooming, so they could be doing that. Or since many hydrangeas bloom on old wood, if they'd been pruned anytime between fall of last year and when you planted them this spring, then this year's flower buds were removed. So I'd hang in there and see what happens next year.

As far as the leaves--can you post a picture? It could be too much or too little water, fertilizer burn, maybe even sunburn, if your weather is pretty hot then depending on how hot it is when the evening sun is hitting it that could be too much for it. Or something else entirely...so it would be easier to narrow it down with a picture. If you could post a closeup of one of the browning leaves, and then also a little farther away shot showing where the browning leaves are and to give an idea of how many leaves are affected that would be ideal.

used coffee grounds is the best fertilizer for blue hydrangias they don't really like the

hot sun

I'm not only a new gardener, but I'm new on this computer. I know how to get my pictures on the program on the computer, but how do I get it to you? Do I email it to Dave's Garden?
Also wanted to share this with you. I've hung a hummingbird feed on my front poarch so that I can see it from my living room window. I've been looking for them all summer and finally they came this week-feeding at the feeder and on the begonia handing next to it. Yesterday morning I was sitting in the LR having my coffee and something drew my attention to the feeder-it was full of honey bees! When the birds came they couldn't get to it. To make a long story short I spent about an hour shooing bees. I could get really close to them and flip them off the feeder. Today some of them were back but so were the birds and they fed together! Is this normal?
Also, I was told that Hydrangias were easy to grow and would live year after year. Guess I'll have to get my info from you from now on. It is the blue one that has the problem, should I put some coffee ground around it-dry or used ones? By the way, I have two Begonias and two Ivy hanging pots on my porch and they are just beautiful. Maybe I should keep my hands out of the yard dirt.
Do you know how to get rid of Chip and Dale? Those little chipmunks rooted up most of my annuals, and ate all of my petunias. Sorry to go on so, but I really want to have a pretty garden that birds will visit. Thanks for all your help. Carol

Coffee grounds won't hurt hydrangeas. In fact, anything that acts as a mulch around the plants is likely to be good for them. But if you're thinking that the acidity in the grounds acts like a "fertilizer" somehow, the brewing process pretty well eliminates what acidity was there beforehand. As mulches break down chemically, they release small amounts of elements found in fertilizers, but that takes a LONG TIME.

Carol,

To put a photo in a post:

1. Type in what you want to say in the "your message" area.
2. In the box below where you typed the post, there is a place that says: image/browse.
3. Click on the browse button. A box on your computer (usually my pictures) will open up. If the correct file folder for where you keep your photos doesn't open automatically, search for it via this box that opened.
4. When you locate the photo you want to use, click on it and then on "open".
5. Click on "preview". If all is well with your post and your photo is there, click on "send"
6. If the photo did not load correctly or it is the wrong one, copy the wording in your post, and then use the back button.
7. You can paste your message back into that box and try again for the correct photo. (Mozilla, for me at least, does not erase the message or the photo "address" when I use the back button).

Hope this helps,

Karen