I have a few that are a couple of years old. They reached three feet by the end of thier second year in a bigger pot and were purchased at Lowes as one gallon plants. The worse thing about buying them now without flowers on them is you don,t know what ff you really have until they bloom out. So far only one of the 7 ff I have bought at Lowes has turned out to be what the tag said it was.

I have F & E Blue Heaven hydrangea. It's the second year here in my garden. I also bought it at Lowes. It grew to about 3 ft tall this year and maybe about the same in width. But, it blooms pink for me not blue! lol. It's my soil that's too alkaline for it to bloom blue, so I'll be working on that.
Just realize that if you want a pink one, you may end up with it blooming blue or purple, depending on your soil. Likewise, if you want the blue one, it may bloom pink instead.
I did winter protect it, and got just a few blooms on new wood anyways this year. I may try protecting it again to see if I get more blooms next year. If not, then I probably won't winter protect at all. Why winter protect then, if you still only get blooms on new wood?
It has been disease free this year for me, but I also spray with Bayer Disease Control a few times.
It's a lovely hydrangea and I recommend it. Just be prepared to not get quite the color you were expecting.

Blue Heaven before blooming

Blue Heaven blooms

My Blue Heaven ff was purchased from Lowes this year and bloomed out a few weeks later pink. Either its not Blue Heaven or they aren,t making any effort at all to make them blue before shipping.

I have had my soil tested before, and it does test out at 7.8 alkalinity. So, my soil wil produce pink blooms unless I can lower the pH.

Cathy

Thanks for your replies. Luckily the three FE I purchased from Loews had or will have blooms shosrtly so I know they are white. The are tagged as FE White Out Hydrangea....supposedly a compact variety. Anyone have any of these?

Kentstar, your plants are beautiful. Hopefully mine will do the same.

Thankyou!
I did winter protect. But, it seems like it bloomed more on new growth instead of any older growth. So, who knows? Maybe I won't have to winter protect so much as just maybe throwing some mulch around the base in winter. I just don't know if I'm brave enough lol to try it!

I made a big cylinder out of chicken wire fencing and stuffed it full of shredded oak leaves and straw for the winter. Worked great I guess.

Now, if only I could get it blooming blue blooms or purple, or even a mix of colors would be great! I guess I'll have to try to get my soil pH down to neutral to do that.