Hydrangeas are just like most other plants and will struggle in the heat. Even well watered hydrangeas can show signs of heat stress. But do not let that heat stressed hydrangea stress you out too!
Panicle hydrangeas can handle hot sun
While they are drought tolerant and stand up to heat, I still like to provide shade during the hottest part of the day. And just because they are drought tolerant doesn't mean you should let them wilt. As with all hydrangeas, plants will thrive with regular irrigation.
Most hydrangeas prefer only morning sun. Yet one type of hydrangea can soak up the sun all day: the panicle hydrangea. While they can stand the sun, these do just fine in partial shade, too.
Use a soaker hose to water deeply and keep moisture off the flowers and leaves. Watering in the morning will help prevent hydrangeas from wilting during hot days. Add mulch underneath your hydrangeas to help keep the soil moist and cool.
Hydrangeas need more water than most garden plants and will begin to wilt quickly without it. To ensure that Hydrangeas thrive, water deeply two to three times a week in the summer. Be sure to water in the morning or evening so that water does not evaporate as quickly as it would during the heat of the day.
Too much sun exposure can cause your hydrangea shrubs to burn on its leaves and blooms. Also, be sure to put your fingers in the soil to see if it needs watering. We do recommend a soak versus light watering each day, but you should be sure that the soil is always moist – not wet – by sticking your fingers in the dirt.
Burnt leaves and fronds in the garden look awful and are a constant reminder of the hot weather we've been experiencing. Ugly as it is, the best thing to do about burnt growth is to leave it be and to provide as much water as possible to damaged plants.
4. All hydrangeas will turn brown if they wilt too many times in hot weather. Water these shrubs deeply every few days in the heat of the summer (note that hand watering isn't deep enough) and mulch around plants to hold moisture in the soil longer.
It's best to start adding coffee grounds to the soil months before the blooming season begins, ideally in the late fall. You can repeat the process with your typical fertilizing schedule.
Some gardeners report success in turning their hydrangeas blue by applying coffee grounds to the soil. The coffee grounds make the soil more acidic, allowing the hydrangea to more easily absorb aluminum. In addition, fruit peels, lawn clippings, peat moss and pine needles, are thought to have a similar effect.
"Hydrangeas can look stressed in extreme heat but will perk up when temperatures drop," says Clay. "If the plant is looking a bit sad even with cooler temperatures, it likely needs water."
Hydrangeas do best in moist, well-drained soil and dappled shade – not too sunny and not too shady. Avoid south-facing positions, especially if the soil is very dry. For a very shaded spot, such as a north-facing wall, grow the climbing hydrangea Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris.
But there's one key aspect of ensuring hydrangeas return bigger and better every year: deadheading. The practice of removing spent flowers from a plant, deadheading encourages stronger, more bountiful blooms later on.
There are several different cultivars of hydrangea shrubs, in a fabulous spectrum of colors and all different shapes and sizes. While some hydrangeas won't take kindly to our intense Texas heat, there are certainly a few kinds that thrive in the Southern comfort of Texas.
Typical symptoms include yellowing leaves, or irregular dry, brown blotches. Leaf tips and margins may turn brown, as well. Severely damaged leaves may drop from the plant. Leaf scorch results when the leaves lose water faster than it can be supplied by the roots, so wilting may occur before scorch is noticed.
If you did see damage to your hydrangeas, the burnt leaves themselves will not recover, but this does not mean that your plant will not survive.
If you don't prune hydrangeas then they can eventually resemble a tangled mass of woody stems, and the flowers will become smaller and less showy.
Water your hydrangeas in the morning before the heat of the sun is strong enough to quickly evaporate soil moisture. Try to avoid watering at night, which can encourage mold and mildew as the moisture sits through the cool night. Water your hydrangeas through the growing season as well as in late fall.
The goal is to have them last about two to three weeks! If they start to droop after a few days, cut the stem again and change the old water out to hot water once or twice a week. You can also mist the blooms daily – hydrangeas are one of the very few flowers that can actually drink water from their blooms!
Plant is wilted. Leaves may be folded or rolled. Soil is dry to the touch an inch or more into the ground.
Brown, tan, yellowish or black spots on hydrangea leaves may be anthracnose. You can also identify it by cankers that form on stems and branches. Anthracnose can be fatal to hydrangeas, so prune out dead or diseased plant parts and destroy them.
Hydrangeas thrive with that perfect combination of morning sun and afternoon shade. Even Hydrangea paniculata, which is a sun lover, will do well in partial shade. However, some varieties of hydrangea can tolerate full shade.
Hydrangea is POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth for only a few days. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, and chest tightness. It's LIKELY UNSAFE to use more than 2 grams of dried hydrangea rhizome/root at a time. It is also LIKELY UNSAFE to use hydrangea for long period of time.