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joannemb

Where to find 'White Out' in Cleveland???

joannemb
12 years ago

I looked all over last year for Forever and Ever's White out Variety with no luck. I've started calling around to retailers here and no one has it....Nurseries, Lowes, Home Depot, Kmart. Has anyone in the Cleveland area ever seen them? Otherwise I'm doomed to get them from Brighterblooms.com for $30 a plant (1 gallon.) Since I need 5 I REALLY would like to find them cheaper! :(

Comments (7)

  • luis_pr
    12 years ago

    This is not yet a good time to find hydrangeas so maybe that is why you are having difficulty. Lowes, for example, has some in stock now but their inventory gets better in May. One idea is to go to the Forever and Ever Website and locate stores near your home by using your zip code. Then contact the stores and see if they plan to purchase White Out to their store. If not, see if they can custom order it for you.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Where to find F&E Stores

  • joannemb
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Found 2 at Lowes! I called weeks ago and begged someone in the nursery to call me when they arrived and he did....they got 5 in, held 2 for me, and the other 3 were gone by the time I got there. I'm planning on putting them in containers on my front porch and overwintering. All of my hydrangeas are in the ground, and I'm nervous to try this with these beauties, but since they only get 2ft. by 2ft. I thought I'd give it a go. I'd love to not have to plant annuals in these 2 large urns every summer and just bring out my beautiful white outs from the garage instead! Sounds like a wonderful plan.... maybe too easy/good to be true :)

  • Joanne Becker
    7 years ago

    Update: 5 years later and still going strong! They are really my favorite white hydrangea... Love the green and petal shape when they are opening. I overwinter in my garage, water once every month or two, bring them out after the last frost and that's it!

  • Joanne Becker
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    The other 2 (that I transplanted into the ground 3 years ago) look like this unfortunately. :( Any insight as to how to winter protect would be great.... I don't want to lose them but dont have room in my garage for 2 more monstrous pots all winter. I covered my sister Therese with burlap last winter and ended up losing it (it barely leafed out by mid June) so I'm afraid to attempt again.

  • luis_pr
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    ST is a pretty strong shrub so it is surprising that it has died. It and the other hydrangeas need evenly moist soil when the soil is not frozen so make sure that watering issues do not affect it. 2-4" of mulch at all times can also help with watering issues and to protect the roots during the winter. About 1 gallon of water per watering will be fine in Spring; a little more in summer will also be fine but reset it back when Fall temps arrive. Once the plant goes dormant, water once a week or two depending on soil moisture and stop if your soil freezes.

    If you want to try the chicken wire method instead, give it a try. Or do searches in the forum for 'winter protection' and see discussion on the other ways to winter protect.

    With the chicken wire method, you put chicken wire around the shrub(s) when the plant go dormant in the Fall, fill it with either mulch or dried out leaves, top with cardboard and put a few rocks so the cardboard will not fly away during windy winter days. Then in midwinter, add more mulch/leaves if you notice settling. About 2 weeks after your average date of last frost, if the weather outlook looks warm then remove the winter protection. The chicken wire should be long and high enough to support putting it around the dimensions of a mature plant.

    The flower buds that develop at the end of the stems is what you are trying to protect so, the more "distance" from the ends of the stems to the chicken wire, the more protection you should have. You can pile several garbage bags full of leaves per plant or you can use mulch. I use chicken wire with small holes because I use mulch not leaves (I do not get that many leaves in the Fall) and the mulch tends to escape if the wire has big holes.

  • Joanne Becker
    7 years ago

    ST was doing great until the polar vortex. It just never bounced back.... But that year was a crazy winter. Maybe it just wasn't strong enough to make it through another winter (even protected.) I will try the chicken wire method this year... Thank you!

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