PlantFiles: Bigleaf Hydrangea, French Hydrangea, Mophead
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer'

I bought 2 plants a yr ago at the 75% off sale at a Home Depot. Both were in rough shape but made an incredible recovery. One has more than doubled it's size & the other has easily quadrupled. EZ to propagate.

I've had endless summer for 3 years in soil that I made highly acidic by mixing in about 1/2 peat moss. They bloom beautifully and are all about 4' tall, but right now we've had recordbreaking hot weather for this time of year (near 100) and all of them, even those in the shade and in very moist soil, are wilting miserably.

Love the plants, but not sure whether the blooms will last this year. I'm planting on cutting way back when the blooms start looking bad and letting them bloom again fresh. They do continue blooming from new wood all summer.

I bought a trade gallon Monrovia Endless Summer Nikko Blue Hydragea at the beginning of last summer. I planted it in an area that gets morning and mid-day sun and afternoon shade. By the end of summer, it was HUGE and covered in periwinkle-colored mopheads. It bloomed well into October here in Alabama zone 7b. I love it and plan to add a matching one on the opposite side of the path this year. It blooms on old and new growth.

I bought an Endless Summer hydrangea at Wal-Mart last summer on a whim. Not only did it thrive its first year in my garden, but it bloomed beautifully. (I did not try to acidify the soil--I'm just fine with my pink blooms.)

Some things that I think contributed to the success of this plant are: a sheltered site on the east side of our home with morning sun and afternoon shade; consistent watering (but not over-watering); a healthy top dressing with compost.

We'll see how the plant managed the winter, but due to it's vigorous growth last summer I'm guessing it's just fine. I'm looking forward to many great years with my (happily pink!) hydrangea.

My wife bought this plant, and set it on our front stoop. Next to where the dogs comfy bed is while he is outside, when we are at work. We came home at lunch one day to find the dog half dead and vomiting his guts up all over the front patio.

I looked at the hydrangea and noticed that he had eaten a few of the leaves. We took him to the doc and they pumped his stomache, fed him some activated charcoal, and kept him under observation for a day, then fed us a $500 bill.

Moral of the story here is: if you have a dog, don't keep a hydrangea bush anywhere near his resting areas, or places where he might be tempted to chew on the leaves. I have looked it up online and it is noted that the leaves of a hydrangea plant can act as cyanide to dogs and some other animals when ingested.

My dog would have died if we hadn't decided to come home for lunch that day.

still a beautiful plant. now it rests outside our gate on a stump by the front walk. =)

I was relieved to hear so many comment on this plant wilting quickly and needing lots of water. I had 8 hydrangeas planted last August and by that time, they didn't all look the healthiest. some are in morning sun and some in afternoon sun and I was watering them every one to two days when wilting. this year they all came back, looking very healthy. most have beautiful blue-purple blooms - some have more than others. Again started the wilting business, we haven't had much rain since May (SE Pa) so i've been base watering each one every 2 to 4 days depending on rain. we also occ. do a sprinkler over the whole landscaping. I love hydrangeas and was excited to have them in my landscaping and so I will do the constant watering. Just glad to know, this is common for hydrangeas.

Planted this two years ago last fall. Didn't do much the first year. But this year it has really taken off. Even despite the spring record low cold spell. I have two in a "sheltered" area next to my house. Both have between 30-40 blooms on each plant - both old and new wood. I would def. recommend Endless Summer.

Two others were zapped by the cold spell, but one has rebounded nicely. It has four flowers on new wood. A great shrub for a shady location, and a must for every hydrangea lover!

I've had lots of success propagating this plant with simple layering. Let the parent do the job of nurturing for you, no fuss, no muss.
If you start in early spring by mid summer you may be able to transplant. If the root system isn't ready, the following spring it will be.

I live in Zone 7b and LOVE my hydrangeas. They are one of the most rewarding plants in my garden.

I've seen postings here about watering. I never worry about watering. I rarely water mine and yes, they wilt (sometimes pitifully!), but in the evening they always perk up and by the next morning they are fine. So when I have the time, I water; when I don't, I don't. Five years of this neglectful treatment and still they are healthy, beautiful and give abundant blossoms.

As for pruning, I leave mine looking like bunches of dead sticks over the winter (kind of pretty with snow on them). Then, in the early spring, when leaf buds are forming, I prune out the dead wood, cutting only the branches (or parts of branches) that have no leaf buds. That way, the bush has old wood on which to bloom.

I only wish everything was as easy and rewarding as my hydrangeas!

Hello from Calgary,Alberta.

We have this beautiful plant in our garden.Last year it did bloom and we convinced it to have the blue flower. The old wood seems to be quite dead...it did not grow on the old wood last season.

I have several Endless Summer Hydrangeas, and they bloom all summer long. Some of them are going into their third year, and are very easy to take care of. I also have 2 Halo Hydrangeas, and they are also easy to care for. They do tend to die down over the winter, but haven't had problems coming back. I live in Eastern Washington, which borders a 6/7 zone.

I've planted about 15 of these. They bloom incredibly profusely here in Omaha NE, particularly in spring. Surprisingly, I regularly get both pink and blue flowers on the SAME plant at the SAME time! I'm beginning to wonder whether this "acidity" thing is a crock.

BE PREPARED: These plants require an INCREDIBLE amount of watering. Most of mine are planted in shade, but still require watering twice a day in the summer heat. They wilt over when they're at all dry, but seem to recover within minutes when watered.

For me they only bloom on new wood because all they HAVE is new wood - they die completely back over winter and grow up from the ground each spring. This is a disappointment because I wanted a hedge, but since they start from ground zero each year, they only get about 24" each growing season. The huge blooms look a little ridiculous on the small plants. Is there any way to get these to grow larger? This will be the fourth spring I've had them.

Hello Gardners:
I am so upset! My gorgeous Hydrangea appears to be in shock.

It was quite healthy, in the spring & summer.

Now , in November, the leaves are all dropping off & they are drooping. The edges, of the plant are brown too.

Should I prune it now?

What did I do or not do correctly?

Thanks for reading this post.
Francy in Sunnyvale, California

This plant was produced, primary for zone 4 even thought it works in other parts of the country. Here in Zone 4 it die back to nearly the ground every year so even thought it can be planted as a small bush it will never flowers because the original species only bloom on old wood. Thus, Endless Summer blooms on new wood along with old wood too and so that's why it is the hype here. It has not lived much to the hype here as it is a bit shy to flower, not filling the entire bush with blues and pinks and blooms only once during the entire year like most other bushes does. It barely bloom in part shade for me so next year I am transplanting it in a more "sunny" location as it gave me only one flower this year for three bushes that grew to about 2 to 3 feet tall and leafy maybe because of the high phosphate in the sandy soil.

Endless summer has done great for me. I use round peony supports on my hydrangeas so they don't fall over.

I was browsing Lowe's clearance flowers and and lady shopping along side me told me that for the marked down price I 'better' buy this plant. I didn't care for it much at the time but once I put it next to my pond in the shade it instantly gave me a piece of that tropical look I was searching for. I enjoyed it so much I've recently purchased another.

I love hydrangeas so much. My count is up to 13 of them. All different ones though. I must say yes they do love there water, I could water twice a day. I have some in full sun & full shade it does not matter, you need to water. Still have issue with new flowers on old or new wood. Some do. Some don't. I'm not going to cut any of them this year to see what happens?

Two stem cuttings planted in pots. I cut the bottom leaves off, then cut the next two in half, applied root tone to the stem and am keeping the soil moist at all times. Soil was a mix of potting mix and coffee grounds...but I am thinking of the rebar trick or pennies in the soil to keep their color BLUE.

I am happy with my Endless Summer hydrangeas. I prefer blue flowers despite the natural inclination for them to be pink here. I used aluminum sulphate for a few years, but I heard about an easier way to get blue flowers - stick a short piece of rebar in the soil right next to the plant. My husband got some rebar cut into 5" pieces for me and I put one next to each hydrangea a year or so ago. They are all blooming blue this year! I'm not sure about the science behind it, but it sure seems to work - without much work required!

Blooms great in zone 5. It does transplant very well. I moved mine, while it was actively growing. It did not flinch and is still producing flower buds.

I was so impressed with the specimen of ES I planted on the west side of my house last year (gets 2 hours of afternoon sun), that I planted 3 more this spring (got a good sale price). Unfortunately, although my original ES bloomed blue last year (and my new ES are blue this year), the original is now producing very large near-white blooms. I know what effect PH has on hydrangea bloom color, but am flummoxed by this development. Any thoughts?

This plant has done very well in my mother's zone 6 garden in NW Oklahoma. Even after being transplanted twice this year (due to sewer/septic problems), it is still growing and trying to bloom. Can hardly wait to see how it does once it's been left in one spot for a couple of years.

This is a lovely plant. However, I have a tendency to give the plant too much aluminum sulfate. I have blue blooms but a recent, generous dose of aluminum sulfate apparently caused the plant to become more sensitive to the sun. I came home to find scorched leaves on only an 80-degree day! Do any of you know what the proper dosage of aluminum sulfate should be?

Mississauga Ontario....I bought my first Endless Summer Hydrangea this year, $30.00 at Loblaws garden centre & it has done very well in compost-rich (store bought manure) soil, some morning sun & kept well watered. The first flush of blooms were a very pretty true pink & quite large. Desiring blue flowers I purchased Aluminum Sulfate to acidify my clay soil & added 3 tsp. desolved in water (old juice container) every 2 weeks. It did turn the flowers a pretty mauve color, but they were smaller flowers. I think I'll let it return to pink & be what it wants to be in my garden as the pink are equally as stunning & larger blooms.
The plant grew so well that I'll have to move it over a foot or 3 next spring as it will eventually fill the space it's occupying. When I put it to bed this fall I'll give it a thick blanket of organic mulch, a good watering & perhaps a wind shield of burlap & hope for the best! Does anyone have any experiance in transplating an Endless Summer Hydrangea? Do they transplant well? Any suggestions for supports for the blooms/stems as they get very heavy due to the size of the blooms & droop over quite unattractively?
Happy gardening!
Sunshine Sue

First year for this plant I am excited, for this is always been one of my wifes favorites but that was on the coast of B.C. now we live in the interior and as like tokyorose it gets very hot here in the summer (90's to 105 F) so it will be interesting as the summer progresses so far started blooming in late may and hasen't stopped looks wonderful,looking forward to next year to see how it progresses.full shade north side.

OK here in zone8. Seems otherwise similar to Nikko, but is a smaller plant. Right now, it seems to be the earliest to bloom and the flower density is high. The plant is quite small after three years....maybe 18 inches tall and three feet wide. It seems happy enough. It doesn't seem to live up to all the hype, though. My Nikkos grow faster, are more upright, and just plain seem more vigorous. Definitely was not worth the 30$ that I paid for it. I've noticed that the local Lowe's here has started selling them for $6.00.

This plant is wonderful to buy for a newbie like me who has never had a hydrangea! Hard to mess it up, I haven't had success yet changing it from pink to blue, must have Aluminum Sulfate - not MirAcid ! That is why I am battling pink blooms - and of course North Dallas is full of clay soil. My plant has tons of blooms but beware, once we hit 90 degrees and above - it has been a battle to keep it from wilting! And this one is in full shade on the North wall with 3 bushes around it. I water it morning, noon, and night to keep it from wilting - no signs of overwatering so far. Even with all the water work I highly recommend this hydrangea!

Can anyone help me?

I bought a beautiful Endless Summer Hydrangea and in my zeal to acidify the soil, may have just about killed this gorgeous plant. The smaller flower heads have died (the fact that they were turning blue is not a consolation) and now the leaves are beginning to change color and curl up.

I am heartsick. Thanks.

This is my first year w/this plant, and I am pleased already! It has done well in the MO heat and blooms away happily! :)

Endless Summer is a unique hydrangea in that it DOES bloom on new growth. We were fortunate to get one this year as only 1000 were sold. Expect to see a lot more of these soon!

Hydrangeas do exceptionally well in Western Washington. Predominately blue due to the acid soil. Will bloom pink if in alkaline soil. Do NOT cut the entire plant back, it ONLY blooms on old growth. So if you must prune make sure to leave some of last years stocks to have bloom the following summer. As for drying them there must be a 100 ways, none of which I have had any luck. Good luck, they make nice winter bouquets if you can dry them.

This hydrangea looks beautiful!

This Hydrangea was discovered growing in a garden in Minnesota so is exceptionlly hardy! Very unique because it has the ability to bloom consistently on both old and new wood. The result is a plant that provides beautiful flowers all summer long. Flowers grow up to 8" in diameter. Produces pink blooms in alkaline soils and blue to purple in acidic soils. We're very excited up in this cold state to have a blue hydrangea...first came available this summer to the public.