Are you considering planting hydrangeas this year, but you’re not sure if they’ll come back next year or if you’ll have to plant them again? Depending on your hardiness zone, the response will vary. Despite appearing as perennials in this text, hydrangeas are annuals.
How Do Annuals and Perennials Differ From Each Other?
All hydrangeas are perennials. There’s no getting around it. A hydrangea’s life cycle will take more than one or two seasons to finish. It would take two or three years to produce flowers if you were to cultivate a hydrangea from seed. It is advisable to leave that task to the farmers.
Moreover, unlike hostas, hydrangeas are woody perennials, so their stems are not as soft green as those of other plants. When a frost hits fragile perennials, their growth usually dies back; this is not the case with woody perennials. As long as they receive proper care and enough sunlight, hydrangeas can survive for up to fifty years.
Do Hydrangeas Come Back Every Year?
Hydrangeas are deciduous plants that lose their leaves in the late autumn or early winter. If your winters are very cold, cover the plant and its root system with a heavy layer of mulch. Winter protection is not necessary in areas that are milder, like zone 7.
Are hydrangeas an annual plant?
When a plant enters dormancy after going through its entire life cycle—from seed germination to seed production—it is considered annual. Producing seed is an annual plant’s ultimate purpose for it to be able to reproduce.
Annuals don’t stop blooming until their season is over. The simplest way to keep blooming until the first frost is to keep deadheading. Marigolds and petunias are two annuals that look great in flower gardens.
Hydrangeas in Containers
Planting hydrangeas to fill your big containers is a brilliant idea, in my opinion. You could plant one by itself or in a combination pot. Ensure that your pots have adequate room for the hydrangea to grow. If your plants are in lovely containers, just move them into a shed or cold-weather garage.
You can dig a hole in the ground and place the potted plant inside if your plants are in nursery pots that can tolerate the cold. When you bring the plant back outside in the spring, it will struggle to acclimatize to the heat in your house. The likelihood of the plant dying is very high.
Gift Hydrangeas
A lot of plants are bought or given as houseplants to be enjoyed within the house. If you keep these beautiful hydrangeas in a pot that drains properly and in a bright environment, they should be easy to maintain.
If you reside in Zone 6 or higher, plant your present in your garden. Choose a partially shaded or shaded area of the garden, water it frequently, and plant in the early to mid-summer.
However, if you live in Zone 5 or lower, they might not be hardy enough. I’m afraid that in that case, you will have to treat your hydrangea like an annual.
When Do Hydrangeas Bloom?
The end of spring to the start of summer is when hydrangeas bloom, depending on the variety you have. Reblooming hydrangeas, which bloom for most of the summer, are a recent discovery. Both recently planted and old plants can produce flowers. Upon purchase, the box will call these “rebloomers.”
Every year, growers create new varieties of rebloomers. Planting hydrangeas in large bunches makes for a stunning sight.
How to Prune Hydrangeas
Identify the type of hydrangea you have first. Some bloom on newly emerging growth, some on old wood, and some on both. Hydrangeas that bloom in the early spring or autumn are good candidates for pruning.
You can cut these back to a point slightly above the first new bloom. Hydrangea arborescens, often known as smooth hydrangea and Hydrangea paniculata are two hydrangeas that bloom on new growth.
After they have finished blossoming, cut down the hydrangeas that grow on old wood by one-third. The macrophylla variety of hydrangeas, which includes mopheads, big leaves, and lace caps, blooms on old wood. Oakleaf hydrangeas don’t need much pruning because they bloom on the previous year’s growth.
What Time of Year Is Best for Hydrangea Planting?
The best time to plant hydrangeas is in the spring after the last frost, or when they are dormant, which is after they have lost their leaves.
Don’t forget to provide enough room for the mature plant to expand. Visit your neighbourhood garden center to learn which hydrangeas thrive in your specific environment and geographic location. The mild toxicity of hydrangea leaves makes them unappealing to certain pests, such as deer.
Also Read: Coffee Grounds Hydrangeas
Conclusion
Despite being considered annuals in some areas, hydrangeas are, by definition, perennials. That being said, you are still free to play with them in your garden however you see fit. This is why gardening is pleasant.
Filling containers with hydrangeas, sweet potato vines, and petunias makes a stunning traditional arrangement. Take a chance on something new this spring; you never know what you might end up like!