During the 2010 gardening season, I
bought a total of 4 Endless Summer hydrangeas, which I planted on the north and
west sides of my home. Of course these are supposed to the the most hardy
compact hydrangeas you can buy, and are hardy in Zone 6b for sure. During an
investigation of the bud health yesterday, I'm rather disappointed with their
overwintering this past season, as in my opinion this was not a particularly
harsh one. Even though they've only been in the ground for one season, I felt
they should've done a little better, so I assumed they hadn't become
established enough yet. Basically, buds that were 4" above the ground and
below were the ones that survived, and the ones above that shriveled or have
not begun to leaf out yet. Going nextdoor to examine my neighbor's ES buds, his
had similar results after being in the ground for at least 5 years! This next
winter, I am going to try piling maple leaves in a cone atop the canes and
throwing a burlap square over them, weighing the cloth down with rocks or
bricks on the side. With only a couple nightly lows near 0, this should do well
for them. Most of my perennials will grow excellently until early-to-mid
November, so that's when I will perform most of my overwintering treatments on
these shrubs.
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