Bigleaf Hydrangea, French Hydrangea, Mophead 'Endless Summer'

I have had the plant two years and, in hot weather, it seems to constantly need to be watered and looks wilted. I live in zone 5b and hav...Read Moree to plant is a mostly shady spot. I am not happy with it.

Pros: They live.
Cons: They do NOT thrive. In fact it seems that all 7 of them are struggling after their 3rd summer on the eas...Read Moret side of my home. They get watered regularly and fed judiciously. They bloomed the first year and then less the next year. This year, most had no bloom. My only guess is that a half day of sun is too much for them. I will move them to a shadier location and see if they like it better. These did not live up to my expectations.

I completely agree with showgarden about this Hydrangea. I bought mine last year, with correct everything, and this spring, it was just l...Read Moreovely with healthy green leaves and lots of blooms.
Now, in August, it is just plain unhappy. Now, showgarden and I live very close, and so, comments are the same.
My "Pinky Winky" Hydrangea is just outstanding by comparison and within a stone's throw of the Endless Summer. I'm going to get rid of the ES and probably plant a Camellia in the same place - my one winter-flowering one is fantastic.
6/2013: The ES is absolutely GORGEOUS. I cannot deny it. Must take three full years to get comfortable, because it is a true showpiece. Good thing I haven't looked seriously for the Camelia...the ES isn't going anywhere soon. But, we've had a cool, wet Spring, so this must be factored in. You MUST HAVE PATIENCE with this one.
4/2014: I HAVE had patience, but this winter did it in. What I thought were viable buds on last year's stems were NOT. The thing died down to the ground. I need something with staying power, and will transplant this to a spot with less significance. My Pinky Winky and Little Lime did just fine, and they are VERY close in proximity to the ES.

It took a couple of years to get established, but is now a reliable bloomer in my zone 5b garden without any winter protection or any spe...Read Morecial maintenance. A favorite of ours.

Positive so far
- gets about 2 hours of morning sun - and a few minutes of evening sun. Light rubber mulch on top of garden fabri...Read Morec - bloomed very nicely this spring after a temperate winter (2010 - NW Houston suburb)

Wow! This summer we had so many blooms that they stopped traffic on a busy highway. Lots of people have told us they almost drove off t...Read Morehe road, gawking. We have them planted along our driveway and everyday we have at least 5 cars drive through the drive to see them. I started cutting dead blooms and after filling 2 wheel barrows full (300 blooms) I quit and you couldn't see that I had cut any. I'm glad I quit because the real show is after the blue turns a burgundy on the sun exposed side of the bloom and a lovely turquoise on the shaded side of the petals. As I write, it is the first of November, we've had several frosts and the darn things are still setting buds and blooming! We had a great year for them. The winter was very cold and continuous. When spring finally came, it didn't go back and forth with heat and frost. Absolute rule: Do NOT trim ANY stems, not even ones that look dead...you'll be surprised at how many send up blooming stems. Be careful that your lawn fertilizer isn't seeping around the roots when it rains (you'll only get foliage). AND, the first few years, they do wilt down and need water but this year, even though we were short 4-6" of rain, they held their own. Patience will be rewarded!

Even though this plant didn't bloom for me this summer, I still love this plant. I live in central New York. I had the wilting thing th...Read Moree first summer I planted it, but after it got established it doesn't wilt as much. If it does wilt in the heat of the day, it comes right back when it gets in the after noon shade. Die back seems to depend on the amount of snow. The first year I lost everything above the snow level. Last year we didn't have a lot of snow and it died back to the ground. This summer it did not bloom although the foilage is fine and it grew to about 2' by 2'. I'm going to try covering it this winter to see if that helps. I read they need a 10 10 10 fertilizer to bloom. I think I may also try the pennies or rebar thing I read here for blue flowers. I would be interested if anyone has any other information about getting it to bloom more.

I have two Endless Summer hydrangeas and they have never failed me. They are very hardy here in Massachusetts. They do require consistent...Read More watering in periods of intense heat or drought. I usually water mine deeply every weekend and that gets them through the week even if there is little rain. I also use a soaker hose to augment there watering during really hot summers. I do know that they do well in my yard because 6 inches below my topsoil is all sand. My mother lives on Cape Cod and hers do amazingly well too. I think they need absolutely perfect drainage or they suffer. Also, they do tend to wilt in high heat. Towards fall, they start to turn burgundy around the edges and are even more beautiful than they are when they are pure blue.

I planted mophead "endless summer hydrangea about 4 days ago and it wilted by the second day. It receives plenty of afternoon shade with ...Read Moremorning sunlight where it is located. Soil was prepared properly with nutrients and tilled to allow for oxygenation. The plant received plenty of water without being "drowned" and water drainage was appropriate.
This is the second time i planted a hydrangea in the last 4 weeks and the first one (Merritt's mophead hydrangea) and it died within 3 weeks.
That one was planted in the front yard under a tree with more sunlight but also some shade. The soil is fine since all the other different kinds of plants i have in that garden bed are doing great. The only plant that died was the hydrangea.
Hydrangeas cannot handle "Texas heat" --period.
If i lived in a zone further north or where climate was cooler i would have no problems planting these.
However, i have yet to notice one Hydrangea in someone's front yard where i live. Neighbors have told me that they tried planting them as well with no success.
One of my neighbors is a landscaper and he wont touch hydrangeas with a ten foot pole. He doesn't even know why nurseries bother selling them here since they can't handle the heat.

Here is my personal experience about "Endless Summer"
If you live in a colder Zone way North of Zone7, then this is truly a niche ...Read MoreHydrangea. That benefit however fades in my opinion in hot humid conditions.
I also do not contest that it grows great for a large percentage of people in a wide variety of zones, but there are a few serious issues I found with Endless Summer.
1) *Endless Summer is very prone to Stem Rot" Since I bought a large quantity of Endless Summer, I lost most of them due to stem rot planted in the exact same way and vicinity as other Hydrangea in my garden.
What I found is that endless summer is quite often sold with advanced Stem rot as every Endless Summer I bought with at least one inconspicuous dead stem died later by progressive stem rot moving from that one dead stem it was bought with, to the entire plant.
Some of them also died from rot moving from a stem cut by the nursery to clean the plant up before sale.
Therefore: *Good Advice* If you have to buy an Endless Summer carefully inspect the base of the plant. If there are any pruned stems or at least one dead stem on the plant...avoid to buy it at all cost. It will rot on you within 3 weeks and you will have no recourse. The nursery will blame you.

2)Very poor grow medium.
The nurseries seemingly do not grow Endless Summer themselves and they seemingly get it directly from a grower licensed to grow them under patent license. Unfortunately, the grower uses what I confirmed to be 100% bark! They obviously do this to save money on shipping weight. The result is that the plants really do not do well in heat when planted as the planting medium contains about no soil and is clearly inferior for the root system, cannot hold water properly and creates extremely finicky watering needs if you are in a hot climate. When you see one try it for yourself and stick your finger in the "soil". You can hardly puncture the soil as it is just bark chips.
This is fine for cold climates but will drive you crazy with watering needs in warmer areas demanding a very narrow window between over and under watering ultimately leaving to fatal death out of warranty.

If you visit a nursery and must by Endless Summer, again, check for any sign of a dead stem or pruning at the base.....this advice will save you money if you avoid those plants never mind how fancy and healthy they do look.

The poor planting medium however you cannot control. It is hard and porous like a sintered rock. I am replacing all my "Endless Summer" with "All Summer" which is way-way-way better for warmer climates Zone-7 and warmer and all of the "All Summer" I bought has proper potting soil used and not el-cheapo 100% bark to save on planter shipping weight.

The only + I can give to Endless summer is blooming in Cold Zones. This is in my opinion it's only benefit.

Short recommendation, if you are not in the colder far northern Zones, (below Zone 6)
avoid "Endless Summer" and rather buy "All Summer" which is much less prone to rot, usually has decent planting medium as soil and therefore will adapt to your garden soil very quickly compared to the bark medium of Endless summer which is obtained from seeming a single grower using 100% bark.

I recommend "All Summer" above "Endless Summer" in warmer humid areas as it clearly is superior than the seemingly weakened hybrid "Endless Summer" is.

This is a great variety of hydrangea, producing lots of blooms for an extended period of time!

My mother-in-law gave me m...Read Morey first Endless Summer Hydrangea two years ago. I kept it potted until just a few months ago. This plant has been producing beautiful purple blooms from mid spring until early fall each year. Since planting it in the ground next to my new house (three months ago), it has almost doubled in size. Unfortunately I did not choose the best location. It has been getting full sun from noon until 6pm, recently making it droop and wilt in the heat... Temperatures have already started getting into the low 90's (and it's not even summer yet)... This hydrangea definitely likes afternoon shade. This weekend I moved it to an area with a little more shade & it already looks much happier!

A few tips: Does best in some sun (not full sun) and likes to be watered regularly. But, try not to get the leaves wet when watering, especially in the afternoon (can get black spot mold on the leaves).

In the last two years the home improvement stores here have started carrying Endless Summer hydrangeas. I bought 15 last year on sale an...Read Mored planted them throughout my yard in various places trying to give them as much shade as possible for the most part. None of them have gotten any bigger but they had lovely blooms all last year and this year they are all covered in new blooms. I'm extremely pleased with them because I have always love hydrangeas and especially since all the gardeners that I've talked to in my area say they won't grow down here at all.

The only complaints I have about them is that a lot of the plants' leaves are covered in red spots (possibly some type of mold?) and the ones that aren't red instead turn brown at the edges and are brittle. I haven't managed to discover the causes of these conditions as of yet.

I am on my third plant none has bloomed much after the first season. Kills back which I knew . I have had them on the North and on the ea...Read Morest side of house with no success this one is doing the best is beautiful compared to the others but alas no blooms. We will see next year .....Three strikes they say and its a out. Disappointed in Mn. This one is on the West side with protection might need more sun to bloom...

I planted an endless summer last fall - I found it half-dead and on clearance, so I figured it was worth the gamble. I planted it in an ...Read Morearea that only gets sun until 11am. It completely died back, and this spring I didn't think it made it. But it made a great come-back (perhaps the cool, wet spring helped). It is blooming on new growth, and absolutely gorgeous. I've mulched it heavily with pine needles, and I'm getting bi-color flowers. I love this plant, and wish I'd found more on clearance!

This was a gift from my coworkers. The first few years I had the plant, I watered it regularly (as needed) with aluminum sulfate to keep...Read More the blooms blue. As an experiment, I watered it just once early this year with a rather weak solution of a.s. The end result is bi-color blooms! My house is a duplex unit with only east, south, and west exposure, so I planted the hydrangea in the shadiest and most protected spot I have. The hydrangea does wilt easily but always snaps back as soon as the morning and mid-day sun leaves and shade makes it's way to the plant. It dies back all the way to the ground here in Illinois but I usually leave the stems and remaining blooms for winter interest and do not mulch, cover, or otherwise give it any special winter protection.

I bought an endless summer at the end of the season last year. I am very new to gardening but I had read that this was hardy enough for ...Read Moremy zone (5a). I did wrap it in burlap and stuff it with straw for the winter. We had a very cold winter here and when I removed the burlap a couple of weeks ago I was sick to see a bunch of sticks.

I was sure it had died but I was in Florida last week and when I got home I had new growth from the roots and new leaf buds on the old stems. I am so excited that it survived and seems to be thriving.

I bought 2 plants a yr ago at the 75% off sale at a Home Depot. Both were in rough shape but made an incredible recovery. One has more ...Read Morethan doubled it's size & the other has easily quadrupled. EZ to propagate.

I've had endless summer for 3 years in soil that I made highly acidic by mixing in about 1/2 peat moss. They bloom beautifully and are a...Read Morell about 4' tall, but right now we've had recordbreaking hot weather for this time of year (near 100) and all of them, even those in the shade and in very moist soil, are wilting miserably.

Love the plants, but not sure whether the blooms will last this year. I'm planting on cutting way back when the blooms start looking bad and letting them bloom again fresh. They do continue blooming from new wood all summer.

I bought a trade gallon Monrovia Endless Summer Nikko Blue Hydragea at the beginning of last summer. I planted it in an area that gets m...Read Moreorning and mid-day sun and afternoon shade. By the end of summer, it was HUGE and covered in periwinkle-colored mopheads. It bloomed well into October here in Alabama zone 7b. I love it and plan to add a matching one on the opposite side of the path this year. It blooms on old and new growth.

I bought an Endless Summer hydrangea at Wal-Mart last summer on a whim. Not only did it thrive its first year in my garden, but it bloome...Read Mored beautifully. (I did not try to acidify the soil--I'm just fine with my pink blooms.)

Some things that I think contributed to the success of this plant are: a sheltered site on the east side of our home with morning sun and afternoon shade; consistent watering (but not over-watering); a healthy top dressing with compost.

We'll see how the plant managed the winter, but due to it's vigorous growth last summer I'm guessing it's just fine. I'm looking forward to many great years with my (happily pink!) hydrangea.

My wife bought this plant, and set it on our front stoop. Next to where the dogs comfy bed is while he is outside, when we are at work. ...Read MoreWe came home at lunch one day to find the dog half dead and vomiting his guts up all over the front patio.

I looked at the hydrangea and noticed that he had eaten a few of the leaves. We took him to the doc and they pumped his stomache, fed him some activated charcoal, and kept him under observation for a day, then fed us a $500 bill.

Moral of the story here is: if you have a dog, don't keep a hydrangea bush anywhere near his resting areas, or places where he might be tempted to chew on the leaves. I have looked it up online and it is noted that the leaves of a hydrangea plant can act as cyanide to dogs and some other animals when ingested.

My dog would have died if we hadn't decided to come home for lunch that day.

still a beautiful plant. now it rests outside our gate on a stump by the front walk. =)

I was relieved to hear so many comment on this plant wilting quickly and needing lots of water. I had 8 hydrangeas planted last August...Read More and by that time, they didn't all look the healthiest. some are in morning sun and some in afternoon sun and I was watering them every one to two days when wilting. this year they all came back, looking very healthy. most have beautiful blue-purple blooms - some have more than others. Again started the wilting business, we haven't had much rain since May (SE Pa) so i've been base watering each one every 2 to 4 days depending on rain. we also occ. do a sprinkler over the whole landscaping. I love hydrangeas and was excited to have them in my landscaping and so I will do the constant watering. Just glad to know, this is common for hydrangeas.

Planted this two years ago last fall. Didn't do much the first year. But this year it has really taken off. Even despite the spring re...Read Morecord low cold spell. I have two in a "sheltered" area next to my house. Both have between 30-40 blooms on each plant - both old and new wood. I would def. recommend Endless Summer.

Two others were zapped by the cold spell, but one has rebounded nicely. It has four flowers on new wood. A great shrub for a shady location, and a must for every hydrangea lover!

I've had lots of success propagating this plant with simple layering. Let the parent do the job of nurturing for you, no fuss, no muss....Read Morer /> If you start in early spring by mid summer you may be able to transplant. If the root system isn't ready, the following spring it will be.

I live in Zone 7b and LOVE my hydrangeas. They are one of the most rewarding plants in my garden.

I've seen postings he...Read Morere about watering. I never worry about watering. I rarely water mine and yes, they wilt (sometimes pitifully!), but in the evening they always perk up and by the next morning they are fine. So when I have the time, I water; when I don't, I don't. Five years of this neglectful treatment and still they are healthy, beautiful and give abundant blossoms.

As for pruning, I leave mine looking like bunches of dead sticks over the winter (kind of pretty with snow on them). Then, in the early spring, when leaf buds are forming, I prune out the dead wood, cutting only the branches (or parts of branches) that have no leaf buds. That way, the bush has old wood on which to bloom.

I only wish everything was as easy and rewarding as my hydrangeas!

Hello from Calgary,Alberta.

We have this beautiful plant in our garden.Last year it did bloom and we convinced it to have ...Read Morethe blue flower. The old wood seems to be quite dead...it did not grow on the old wood last season.

I have several Endless Summer Hydrangeas, and they bloom all summer long. Some of them are going into their third year, and are very eas...Read Morey to take care of. I also have 2 Halo Hydrangeas, and they are also easy to care for. They do tend to die down over the winter, but haven't had problems coming back. I live in Eastern Washington, which borders a 6/7 zone.

I've planted about 15 of these. They bloom incredibly profusely here in Omaha NE, particularly in spring. Surprisingly, I regularly get...Read More both pink and blue flowers on the SAME plant at the SAME time! I'm beginning to wonder whether this "acidity" thing is a crock.

BE PREPARED: These plants require an INCREDIBLE amount of watering. Most of mine are planted in shade, but still require watering twice a day in the summer heat. They wilt over when they're at all dry, but seem to recover within minutes when watered.

For me they only bloom on new wood because all they HAVE is new wood - they die completely back over winter and grow up from the ground each spring. This is a disappointment because I wanted a hedge, but since they start from ground zero each year, they only get about 24" each growing season. The huge blooms look a little ridiculous on the small plants. Is there any way to get these to grow larger? This will be the fourth spring I've had them.

This plant was produced, primary for zone 4 even thought it works in other parts of the country. Here in Zone 4 it die back to nearly the...Read More ground every year so even thought it can be planted as a small bush it will never flowers because the original species only bloom on old wood. Thus, Endless Summer blooms on new wood along with old wood too and so that's why it is the hype here. It has not lived much to the hype here as it is a bit shy to flower, not filling the entire bush with blues and pinks and blooms only once during the entire year like most other bushes does. It barely bloom in part shade for me so next year I am transplanting it in a more "sunny" location as it gave me only one flower this year for three bushes that grew to about 2 to 3 feet tall and leafy maybe because of the high phosphate in the sandy soil.

Endless summer has done great for me. I use round peony supports on my hydrangeas so they don't fall over.

I was browsing Lowe's clearance flowers and and lady shopping along side me told me that for the marked down price I 'better' buy this pl...Read Moreant. I didn't care for it much at the time but once I put it next to my pond in the shade it instantly gave me a piece of that tropical look I was searching for. I enjoyed it so much I've recently purchased another.

I love hydrangeas so much. My count is up to 13 of them. All different ones though. I must say yes they do love there water, I could wate...Read Morer twice a day. I have some in full sun & full shade it does not matter, you need to water. Still have issue with new flowers on old or new wood. Some do. Some don't. I'm not going to cut any of them this year to see what happens?

Two stem cuttings planted in pots. I cut the bottom leaves off, then cut the next two in half, applied root tone to the stem and am keepi...Read Moreng the soil moist at all times. Soil was a mix of potting mix and coffee grounds...but I am thinking of the rebar trick or pennies in the soil to keep their color BLUE.

I am happy with my Endless Summer hydrangeas. I prefer blue flowers despite the natural inclination for them to be pink here. I used al...Read Moreuminum sulphate for a few years, but I heard about an easier way to get blue flowers - stick a short piece of rebar in the soil right next to the plant. My husband got some rebar cut into 5" pieces for me and I put one next to each hydrangea a year or so ago. They are all blooming blue this year! I'm not sure about the science behind it, but it sure seems to work - without much work required!

Blooms great in zone 5. It does transplant very well. I moved mine, while it was actively growing. It did not flinch and is still produci...Read Moreng flower buds.

I was so impressed with the specimen of ES I planted on the west side of my house last year (gets 2 hours of afternoon sun), that I plant...Read Moreed 3 more this spring (got a good sale price). Unfortunately, although my original ES bloomed blue last year (and my new ES are blue this year), the original is now producing very large near-white blooms. I know what effect PH has on hydrangea bloom color, but am flummoxed by this development. Any thoughts?

This plant has done very well in my mother's zone 6 garden in NW Oklahoma. Even after being transplanted twice this year (due to sewer/se...Read Moreptic problems), it is still growing and trying to bloom. Can hardly wait to see how it does once it's been left in one spot for a couple of years.

This is a lovely plant. However, I have a tendency to give the plant too much aluminum sulfate. I have blue blooms but a recent, generous...Read More dose of aluminum sulfate apparently caused the plant to become more sensitive to the sun. I came home to find scorched leaves on only an 80-degree day! Do any of you know what the proper dosage of aluminum sulfate should be?

Mississauga Ontario....I bought my first Endless Summer Hydrangea this year, $30.00 at Loblaws garden centre & it has done very well in c...Read Moreompost-rich (store bought manure) soil, some morning sun & kept well watered. The first flush of blooms were a very pretty true pink & quite large. Desiring blue flowers I purchased Aluminum Sulfate to acidify my clay soil & added 3 tsp. desolved in water (old juice container) every 2 weeks. It did turn the flowers a pretty mauve color, but they were smaller flowers. I think I'll let it return to pink & be what it wants to be in my garden as the pink are equally as stunning & larger blooms.
The plant grew so well that I'll have to move it over a foot or 3 next spring as it will eventually fill the space it's occupying. When I put it to bed this fall I'll give it a thick blanket of organic mulch, a good watering & perhaps a wind shield of burlap & hope for the best! Does anyone have any experiance in transplating an Endless Summer Hydrangea? Do they transplant well? Any suggestions for supports for the blooms/stems as they get very heavy due to the size of the blooms & droop over quite unattractively?
Happy gardening!
Sunshine Sue

First year for this plant I am excited, for this is always been one of my wifes favorites but that was on the coast of B.C. now we live i...Read Moren the interior and as like tokyorose it gets very hot here in the summer (90's to 105 F) so it will be interesting as the summer progresses so far started blooming in late may and hasen't stopped looks wonderful,looking forward to next year to see how it progresses.full shade north side.

OK here in zone8. Seems otherwise similar to Nikko, but is a smaller plant. Right now, it seems to be the earliest to bloom and the flo...Read Morewer density is high. The plant is quite small after three years....maybe 18 inches tall and three feet wide. It seems happy enough. It doesn't seem to live up to all the hype, though. My Nikkos grow faster, are more upright, and just plain seem more vigorous. Definitely was not worth the 30$ that I paid for it. I've noticed that the local Lowe's here has started selling them for $6.00.

This plant is wonderful to buy for a newbie like me who has never had a hydrangea! Hard to mess it up, I haven't had success yet changing...Read More it from pink to blue, must have Aluminum Sulfate - not MirAcid ! That is why I am battling pink blooms - and of course North Dallas is full of clay soil. My plant has tons of blooms but beware, once we hit 90 degrees and above - it has been a battle to keep it from wilting! And this one is in full shade on the North wall with 3 bushes around it. I water it morning, noon, and night to keep it from wilting - no signs of overwatering so far. Even with all the water work I highly recommend this hydrangea!

Can anyone help me?

I bought a beautiful Endless Summer Hydrangea and in my zeal to acidify the soil, may have just about...Read More killed this gorgeous plant. The smaller flower heads have died (the fact that they were turning blue is not a consolation) and now the leaves are beginning to change color and curl up.

I am heartsick. Thanks.

This is my first year w/this plant, and I am pleased already! It has done well in the MO heat and blooms away happily! :)

Endless Summer is a unique hydrangea in that it DOES bloom on new growth. We were fortunate to get one this year as only 1000 were sold. ...Read MoreExpect to see a lot more of these soon!

Hydrangeas do exceptionally well in Western Washington. Predominately blue due to the acid soil. Will bloom pink if in alkaline soil. D...Read Moreo NOT cut the entire plant back, it ONLY blooms on old growth. So if you must prune make sure to leave some of last years stocks to have bloom the following summer. As for drying them there must be a 100 ways, none of which I have had any luck. Good luck, they make nice winter bouquets if you can dry them.

This hydrangea looks beautiful!

This Hydrangea was discovered growing in a garden in Minnesota so is exceptionlly hardy! Very unique because it has the ability to bloom ...Read Moreconsistently on both old and new wood. The result is a plant that provides beautiful flowers all summer long. Flowers grow up to 8" in diameter. Produces pink blooms in alkaline soils and blue to purple in acidic soils. We're very excited up in this cold state to have a blue hydrangea...first came available this summer to the public.