If the garage remains unheated but stays above freezing (35-40F is right about ideal), you can overwinter them as is. Check the soil moisture occasionally and water lightly if excessively dry. If the garage temperature dips below freezing, you might want to consider more elaborate protection, like wrapping the pots and to the tip of the shrubs with bubblewrap or burlap. If you use burlap, you might want to stuff inside the wrap with dry leaves.

Once planted out into your garden in spring, you will need to practice winter protection for following years.

Awesome! I've got some bubble wraps here. What about in my basement which stays between 45F to 55F?

That's too warm and won't allow for proper dormancy. The garage would be better, with some protection should it get very cold.

Thanks! :)

So looks like any plant hardy to zone 6, I can plant in a pot and have it overwinter in my garage. Correct?

If you have room in your garage, it's fun to try. : )

Everyone's garage is different, depending on windows, which way it's facing and where you live of course. Mine has a big window on the west side and another window on the east, so it gets a little TOO warm sometimes in late winter. The garage door is on the north and a lot of cold air comes in around that if it's windy but we keep 2 liters out there and it's unusual for them to freeze up if I keep them on the side closest to the house. This year I'm overwintering some salvias that aren't quite hardy for me and some fuchsia. There's no harm in trying to overwinter plants that would otherwise be annual for you.

Since you have more than one Cityline Paris and a guarantee, you might want to try one outside and one in your garage or if you don't mind the extra trouble, you could move them from your garage to your basement just on the nights when you know it's going to get really really cold.

My garage is facing east with no windows but with glass panels on top. I'm thinking of buying a temperature reader so I can compare it with outside temp.

Anyways, I covered them yesterday. I also placed a bottled water beside it so I'll know if it's freezing.

I do have access to the side so I can water them once every 2 weeks.

So looks like any plant hardy to zone 6, I can plant in a pot and have it overwinter in my garage. Correct?

In theory, yes :-)) Providing some sort of indoor/undercover winter protection is pretty common for a lot of gardeners that grow tender perennials or otherwise borderline hardy plants, but everyone has their preferences on how to best accomplish this. And in some plant cases, it is just simply not worth the effort because of the amount of fussing involved, the temperment of the plant or its abilty to propagate so easily that additional protection is unnecessary.

A couple of issues, Neil: the need for watering will be at a minimum during this period. You only want to keep the soil barely moist. Unless your garage is excessively warm and dry, evaporation will be virtually nonexistant so I'd check about once a month or so.

And the plants need to be able to breath. You want the bubble wrap or newspaper to act as a sleeve, wrapping around the pot and the topgrowth but not engulfing the entire plant. Stuffing loosely inside the sleeve with dried leaves, straw or moss will provide some additional insulation but allow oxygen exchange.

I will add some holes to it. Thanks!

Just an update. The big puddle beside our lot is frozen. Yesterday, it was 14F. The bottled water in the garage(beside by hydrangea) which has been sitting for many days is still in perfect liquid form. That means, the temp in the garage is above 32F. :)

Found this link.

Can I do this with my Cityline in spring?

LOL. I'm so sorry, I forgot to mention what I really wanted to do. I want to divide my Cityline in spring. So yeah, can I divide my Cityline in spring?

I wouldn't. First, hydrangeas are shrubs and do not have the same growth habit as herbaceous perennials with multiple stems emerging from the root crown. Perennials often need division to clean out older, non-vigorous growth and to recharge flowering potential. Woody shrubs do not need similar attention. And while many hydrangeas ARE suckering shrubs, producing rooted stems away from the primary rooted stem or mother plan, this often does not occur until the plants are well established in the landscape. Attempting to separate the roots or divide a new, non-established plant would put it at unnecessary risk.

Propagation of hydrangeas is better accomplished by cuttings or layering.

Here is a link that might be useful: dividing shrubs

I divide Hydrangea Macrophyllas all the time. I've got a yard full of Deutzia 'Pride of Rochester' and Spiraea Nipponica that I once got on a kick dividing. These are six and twelve foot plants that I hacked in to two pieces and planted. I did this maybe 15 years ago and now they're very large and completely healthy from the begining.

The Macrophylla do have a crown like structure (as does the Deutsia and the Spiraea Nipponica) to them in somewhat the same way that a lot of our perennials do and you will be able to divide them in much the same way as you might a hosta. My very first Macrophylla is now about 25 years old and all the canes come out of a very tight base that's no wider than a little over two feet.

This works very well for plants you might want to keep in pots. When they get so large that they're too big, then just cut them in half.

Hay

I recently attended a lecture on hydrangeas and the person was from the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and told us that the 'Cityline' series of hydrangeas is NOT winter hardy and should be over wintered in an unheated garage.

In zone 7, pretty much any type of bigleaf hydrangea is winter hardy and the Cityline series would be no exception. There is nothing in these plants' genetic make up that would make them significantly any less hardy, just more compact. However, zone 5 is borderline for most most H. macrophyllas and winter protection is advised to ensure no bud damage and loss of flowers. But winter protection can be adequately provided in the ground if one follows the proper steps - there is no need to move into a garage or similar place unless they are grown permanently in containers.

jazzmom516,

I'm so glad that my Cityline hydrangea in my unheated garage is still doing well. Most of the leaves(same as my picture above) are still green. The bubble wrap/newspaper is doing a great job in insulating it.

I'm sure that my garage have seen temps below 28F since water bottles are frozen.

Oh, just an fyi. I water it every 2 weeks. :)

Here is an update folks. I'm so glad that my hydrangea did pretty well in our unheated garage. Our temps even reached -35F I think mid January although that was outside.

Anyways, I planted them outside an hour ago. I don't think our temp will reach below 20F anymore. So I'm hoping they'll be safe.

What was the rush to do it in early March?
Should of wait for much safer time in mid April.

I agree with George, I would have waited.......there is still a very real possibility of bud and stem damage at this time of year in your zone.

oh my god, I should have waited then. I'll look for some hay to cover them.

Thanks.

I did the same thing with the first rush of warm weather with my roses - they're already uncovered. Oops.

I have to say I'm quite envious of your pictures - the hydrangeas have so many stems. I purchased my first Annabelle's last year, bought two, and they're literally just one stem each. I ordered online, but don't remember where from off the top of my head. Hopefully they'll spread fast.

Is that cardinal dogwood behind the hydrangea? We have ours planted in a location with little sunlight, and the twigs have very little redness to them, but I think the variety we chose is poor for color anyway. You live and you learn, right!

Good luck with your hydrangea. I'd love to see pics when in bloom. I'm in Wisconsin, zone 5 so like you, my choices with Hydrangea are limited.

Behind the hydrangea is Red Twig Dogwood. I'm also experimenting on the cuttings. Hopefully, they'll make it.

I didn't want to spend money on the hay anymore or other materials to cover them. It's still exposed. We've already hit teens lately. Yesterday, weather.com said it was -1F due to wind chill factor. Right now, they're saying 13F.

It's ok since I got those hydrangeas for $2 each. They're still looking good. I have not seen any signs of stress. Hopefully, the buds aren't damaged. We will find out when it doesn't bloom.

Oh, the dogwood and hydrangea are planted in the north side. It only gets morning sun.

I will keep you posted. :)

how r your citylines doing??? Left mine outside in a pot and we got down to 15--so do not know what they will do--I would have waited 4-6 more weeks in your area....

Most of the greens are gone. :P I only see a few as compared before.

However, I saw new buds at the bottom and they're color red. I'm not sure if that's a good sign. I'll look closely tomorrow.

Hi - I have been told by our local nursery experts in z5a-5, to wait 'til 'Mom's Day' to peel off Winter Coats from tender bloomers ... seems too long of a wait, particularly when Mama Nature teases us with gorgeous, sunny days of 60s-70s in Mar! I've had several bloomless seasons & keeping in mind the famous saying ... "come in like a lamb & leave like a lion" plus those blizzards & hard freezes in late Apr!

If you have saved some of your huge nursery pots, turn them over your Cityline beauties secured with bricks for added protection incase those wicked winds blow away your piled hay ... just a few more weeks.

Good luck ... 'love to see photos perhaps in June!!!

Here are some updates folks. What are those buds? Are those only for the leaves? I'm seeing many of them again. :)

"I recently attended a lecture on hydrangeas and the person was from the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and told us that the 'Cityline' series of hydrangeas is NOT winter hardy and should be over wintered in an unheated garage."

Really? I have Cityline Paris and Venice, I don't even protect them. They're through their second Winter now and are not only budding, they've even got leaves already!

Bob

That gives me a lot of hope Bob. :) Looking at my latest pics, looks like they're going to perform well.

I'll post more pics in the future.

Hi v1rtu0s1ty - Congratulations!!! 'looks like we're going to see beautiful photos of your CL beauties in a little while!

I'm still raking up remnants of Winter (winds) collected by my collection of sorts - biding my time as I resist the daily temptations to uncover all the tender-bloomers amongst the reliables ... the H paniculata leaflets, bursting out of their cocoons (so to speak!) ... just thrilled that perhaps SPRING has really sprung!!!

There is a fellow in the Rochester NY area who has done a LOT of experimentation with bigleaf hydrangeas. I think he recommends cutting them back to about 12" in SEPTEMBER, then mulching heavily when the ground freezes. I just bought a very samll Citiline from a reliable source, and they rated it zone 5. I guess time will tell! Those buds down in the center will be your most promising flowering stems.