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I planted a hydrangea bush a couple of months ago. Although it does flower, they don't last more than a few days then die. It just doesn't seem to be flourishing. The bush is in partial sun. The leaves are also a little brown on the edges.
It would help if you can post some pictures, but you may not need to worry. What you're describing with the flowers sounds like what I would expect--after you plant something it needs to focus on developing its roots so often it won't flower at all, and if it did have some buds already formed before you planted it and tries to bloom, the flowers often won't be the same quality as you'll see in the future once the plant's established. The brown leaves could be from it getting a pinch too much sun, or they could just indicate that there was a day or two somewhere that you let it get too dry. In your climate, in the long term it should be able to handle a decent amount of sun, but when it's newly planted it'll get stressed more easily by that, so if you had some hot weather that could explain the brown edges too.
The brown edges sound like it's adapting to the new site so I'd agree with ecrane. As long as it's getting a decent amount of water every week, it should pull through. Have you put any mulch around the base of the shrub? Might help. Usually if my Hydrangeas get too hot or dry, they leaves will droop until they get watered or the temps gets cooler.
One of the things I noticed that turned both the blossoms and the leaves brown. My husband noticed that the hydrangea was drooping and decided to water it. It was warm out and the sun was shining. He managed to get water on some of the leaves and the blossoms and they got brown edges. Yes, he now knows that is a no-no.
Some of my Hydrangeas will droop if it gets really hot, even if they've got plenty of water. Usually they perk back up after nightfall when the temps drop.
I live in Baltimore with yearly drought and strugggle with my hydrangeas, especially the ones that are in full sun all day (after we lost 3 trees). I have the same problem and it is lack of water (combined with the fact that they are newly planted and haven't established a strong root system yet). The ones which I watered all summer do not have a brown spot on the leaves or the blooms, even though I have watered them while it was sunny. The hydrangea in one area that is hard to water (and so I neglected it ) and also gets sun all day had all its beautiful blooms turn brown as the summer progressed. It was so unattractive I cut off all the blooms. The leaves didn't t brown. I learned my lesson. Keep hydrangeas watered during dry spells and try not to wait til they droop or try not to let them droop too long. The good news is, they will come back new and beautiful next summer.
