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joopster

Zone 5 (Chicago) need help prepping for winter

joopster
10 years ago

I went a little crazy this summer and bought many varieties of hydragea when my local nursery marked them down to $5 each. I need to know which I need to cut back to root and which I need to covered up.

Nikko Blue Hydrangea
Bluebird Lacecap Hydrangea
Lime Soda Hydrangea
Incredible Hydrangea
Endless Summer Hydrangea
Pinky Winky Hydrangea
Limelight Hydrangea
Let's Dance Moonlight Hydrangea
Let's Dance Starlight Hydrangea
Glowing Embers

Comments (3)

  • luis_pr
    10 years ago

    Good selection and awesome prices! Congratulations! Nikko Blue, Bluebird and Glowing Embers need protection in Z5. Lime Soda and Incrediball will be fine as paniculatas and arborescens are hardy to even colder zones. ES has been causing blooming problems to many in Z5 so consider giving it protection. Pinky Winky and Limelight are paniculatas so no protection needed either. The two Let's Dance Macrophyllas are advertised as hardy to Z5 and few people have complained of blooming problems so leave them unprotected to see how do they do this winter; then winter protect them if they do not do well blooming wise.

    Do keep the soil evenly moist and well mulched (3-4" up to the drip line). You can reduce watering when they do dormant; water them once a week or once every two weeks. Stop watering when the ground freezes. Do not fertilize them now.

    Enjoy!

  • joopster
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks luis_pr. Do I need to cut back of them? The nursery cut the two Let's Dance and Incrediball all the way down to an inch when I got it. They are coming back nicely but I'm wondering if I should cut them back at the end of October.

  • luis_pr
    10 years ago

    No, you do not HAVE to prune until Spring... when you determine which stems -if any- survived the winter. In mild winters, some may do that.

    With reblooming hydrangeas, deadheading forces new blooms but I do not think I would have pruned. Maybe they were trying to force new growth because the old growth looked ugly. Normally deadheading would have been enough.

    Pruning now can trigger new growth that will get zapped so if I wanted to prune early, I would prune a few weeks after the plant has gone dormant, much later in the Fall, sometime during Winter or in Spring.

    You can actually wait to prune any stems that look dead until May. That is because, sometimes, a few stragglers will survive during reaaaally mild winters and they may leaf out as late as mid May. Over here though, all, or almost all, of the stems always survive. The blooms fall off by themselves before leaf out time begins.

    I would think in Z5 you would enjoy keeping the stems and blooms much later. Even if they are brownish. But who knows? Some people do not look the shade of brown so oh well. Spray paint them for Halloween! The spent stems/blooms can also add some winter interest. But the bottom line is... do as you please. It is your choice.