I'm no hydrangea expert either, but here's my guess, and others can confirm or correct me. Did you get it from the floral section of the grocery store (rather from the garden-center section?) I'm guessing this is not a garden hydrangea but a florist's hydrangea that's designed to provide beautiful blooms for a few weeks, but isn't really designed to be planted in the ground. Is that possible?

It is gorgeous, though!

Two weeks in the ground--it is probably still experiencing transplant shock.

Stick your finger about 4 inches into the soil around the plant. Is the soil wet or dry? If it is dry, more water is needed. Transplants, in particular, need to have lots of water. In about a month after being transplanted, it will hopefully look much better.

If the soil is wet, cut back on watering. You don't want to drown it.

As to DE, I don't know anything about it, but I do doubt that roly-poly bugs are causing the problem.

I would wonder if you should prune off the blooms--so the plant can concentrate on growing roots. Let's see what other posters have to say on that subject.

Kate

I was thinking florist hydrangea as well but those are usually prevalent around Easter not this late in the season.

Thanks everyone. It is definately a florist hydrangea. I found the tag and it says Hydrangea Macropylla, to brighten any room in the house. Place in low light or sunlight.
So does this mean if transplanted in the ground they will eventually die?
I did test to see if it were to dry or wet and it seemed fine. It is right under a sprinkler head so it gets water (mist) daily. I have not been watering at the base of the plant, so I did that last night. This morning it didn't seem to be improving. I'll check it tonight when I get home.

Thanks again.

Here's a link that might help answer your questions. It sounds like in the right climate it is possible to plant a florist's hydrangea, though there are no guarantees because they're bred more to provide a one-time show. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/foil.html

That was a great link, good information for all of us who from time to time come upon a foil wrapped hydrangea, thanks for posting.!!

Donna

Thanks lalala for the link. It does seem people are having success with foil wrapped. I wish I wouldn't have got caught up in the excitement with this one, but I'm going to try my best to have it survive.
I wonder if I should transplant it to a pot instead of keeping it in the ground.

I would suggest you put it in a spot where you're not counting on it to do anything. My wife got me a florist Hydrangea about 5 years ago and I put it in the ground. Never did anything but leaf out. This year I finally have flowers on it and it's beautiful. Wasn't counting on it to ever do anything because I knew what it was when she got it for me. Now I'm wondering if my winter conditions were just perfect this year or if I can count on it from now on out.

Thanks everyone. I've cut off the dead/wilted blooms. I'm going to transplant it to a pot so during the winter I can keep it inside the garage.

Is there a good time to transplant? Should I wait until it cools down more (I'm in Dallas - temps have already reached over 100).

Mike, If you're going to dig it up and re-pot it, maybe you should think about using a very large terra cotta tub with lots of soil that would keep the roots cool, and keep it outside in the shade. I would think that in your garage it could get pretty hot and with no air movement well, maybe outside shade would be better. I know where I live in 6b if the temps go up to the high 80's in the sun, they all wilt but revive soon after they are out of the sun. Couldn't imaging what they would do if the temps reached 100, but I might never know because I myself would surely melt! Just a thought........Donna

Hi Donna,
I plan on using a terra cotta pot that is at least twice the size. I will keep it in the shade during the summer and fall but come winter I will put in the garage or inside the house to protect it. Although it doesn't really get very cold here during the winter there are times it ices over.

Thanks for your suggestions.

So I've decided to leave the "florist" hydrangea in the location I planted it. I did not want to stress it out more by digging it up and potting it. I did remove all the wilted blooms and left one that looked like it was OK. I've been deep watering it and it is looking good. It even has new growth on it. Is it possible it's going to survive? I hope so!

New bloom-

New leaf growth -

It'll more then likely survive. Will it bloom next year is the question.

It's very doubtful that it will bloom again next season so you're probably going to have to give it at least 2 seasons.