If you think of them as a rather long lasting type of cut flower, then you won't be sorry :-) Plants that are able to grow outdoors in temperate climates (i.e., hardy shrubs like hydrangeas, azaleas, even mini roses) do not make good long term houseplants. But as long as you give them sufficient light, water and moderate temperatures, you can enjoy the blossoms for several months.

These are just plain old bigleaf hydrangeas, H. macrophylla, and they are grown outdoors across most of the country. In colder climates, usually zone 6 or lower, most are given winter protection to guard against cold damage to the flowerbuds and stem dieback. Florist's hydrangeas have been manipulated with fertilizers, growth hormones and light to bloom at a very young age and because they are grown in a greenhouse, a bit tender initially. But if properly acclimatized and hardened off before planting outdoors, there's no reason why you couldn't add these to your landscape after flowering. They also make great porch plants until cold weather sets in.

My daughter has several of these greenhouse hydrangeas and they are about the only thing that grows well in her garden. She is in my zone 5 and gardening is not her forte. But she loves hydrangeas so DH keeps buying them for her. She just plants them and forgets them and every year they get bigger and bigger and bloom the prettiest shades of pink/purple and blue. She only prunes them in the spring by cutting off the stems that don't leaf out. That's it. JUST luck I suppose.

I have had great luck with them I just repot them in a larger pot and store them under the house every winter. If you want them planted out side I think I would wait until spring in your zone . It would give the young plant more of a change to develope deeper roots before being weather stressed.

Hi Lynseyb,
I also got lured into the wonderful world of supermarket hydrangeas. The first one I purchased was beautiful and had massive blooms on it. I immediately planted in ground under a tree which only got morning sun. It did wonderful for about a month and then blah - it started wilting and blooms dying off. I practically had given up on it, but I clipped all the blooms off and cut it back almost to the ground and now it has a ton of new leaf growth. It's been putting out new growth for about 2 months now and is doing great.
So I was at the supermarket again and they had they same type you posted but the Shooting Star, this time I planted in a pot and have it indoors near a door (recommended by someone here), I think it's to get the heat from the door opening and closing. It's doing great. I'm going to wait until Sep/Oct and place it outside in a shady place. I'll plant in the ground in spring.

I'm really having a hard time with plants right now because it is SO hot and dry. Also, living in a new subdivision with NO shade trees, I don't have the luxury of a lot of shade in my yard. I'm almost certain it wouldn't do well in the ground here. Any thoughts on planting it in a larger pot like madeyna did and then storing it in my garage for winter? Can I do this now, or do I have to wait till spring?

Actually, my grandmother good 20 years back used to grow hydrangeas as inside plants (I suppose some kind of rather generic h. macrophylla), since in our z5 it was tricky to grow them outside. In summer she kept them on an open balcony and in winter they were standing inside, on a table near south facing window. Granted, they were not huge plants completely covered in blossoms, but they did bloom some even in the house and lasted at least for a couple of years. My mother now is trying to grow one this way as well, so far her plant is growing for the second year, and is doing fairly well.

I suppose those hydrangeas that do well in shade can cope better with light conditions inside than, for example, roses, which often need full sun even outdoors.

I don,t see why it wouldn,t do fine in your garage if it doesn,t freeze. I just water mine a couple of times during the winter. The only problem you might have is there would be more light in the garage. I,m not sure if that would be a problem or not.

I received a Lace Cap Hydrangea and did not water for eight days; I had placed in my living room where lighting was diffused. The leaves and blooms were wilted and I drenched in water. Well, the leaves came back but the blooms have not as yet. Any suggestions as what to do. I am hesitating to clip off blooms. This was a mother's day gift so I am desperate!